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Faith Healing" Reviewed 



AFTER TWENTY YEARS. 



By / 

Rev. R. Kelso Carter, 

Author of "The Secret of Soul-Saving." 



Mus hear the conclusion of the whole matter " — Ecclesiastes xii. 13. 
The Spirit dividing to every man severally as he will." — I Cor. xii. 11. 




Boston and Chica< 



The Christian Witness Company. 



1897. 



TWO COPIES RECEIVE 



KZ, 





10425 



Copyright, 1897, 

by 

The Christian Witness Company. 



DEDICATION. 



To the Child of God, whether a member of the " Chris- 
tian Alliance " or a "Divine Healing Association," or not, 
but who believes that any earnest soul MAY be mistaken, 
and who always desires to "know the truth" that the 
"truth may set him free," — this book is prayerfully in- 
scribed. 



PREFACE. 



THE " Faith Healing" of this book must be sharply- 
distinguished from the " faith cures," so called, of 
I Christian Science," or the " Mind Cure." The follow- 
ing reasons will make this plain. 

Mrs. Eddy and her school declare, " You are not 
sick ; you have no disease." 

We admit the facts of disease, and esteem it a false- 
hood to assert that there is no sickness present when 
we are actually ill. 

" Christian Science " even sets at naught laws of 
health, for Mrs. Eddy says, " Bathing and brushing to 
remove unhealthy exhalation from the cuticle receives 
a useful rebuke from Christ's — healing, that makes not 
clean the outside of the platter." 

We accept and teach the laws of health, sanitary and 
dietary, as found in the Bible and in the writings of 
the best scientists. 

Mrs. Eddy states that " petitioning a personal God 
to do your work, or to enable you to do it, is not meta- 
physics wherein truth works." 



6 PREFACE. 

The Faith Healing of the Christian comes from our 
God in answer to the direct " prayer of faith," for 
which see James v. 14-16. 

These contrasts will suffice. The term " Faith Heal- 
ing" was used by orthodox Christians long before Mrs. 
Eddy secured any recognition for her absurd system, 
and is retained here because of its strictly Biblical 
character. 

In the Appendix a few special cases of unquestionable 
and positive cures are given for the benefit of honest 
inquirers after truth. 

Baltimore, Md., June 22, 1897. 



Irs, 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. — Reasons for Writing ... 9 

Scope of Faith Healing. — Sketch of Progress. — 
Statement of the Theory. — Cui Bono? 

^CHAPTER II. — The Atonement Theory Stated . 24 

The Century Article in full. 

CHAPTER III. — Testing the Foundations . . 37 

Old Testament Position that of " Law." — Good 
To-day. — Nature of Israel at time of Exodus. — 
Promises to the Nation, and "in the Land." — 
Cases of Old Testament examined. — Isaac, Jacob, 
Levi, David, Miriam, Samson, Job, Ahab. — Differ- 
ence when we study the Sin Question. — Prayers 
of Old Testament.— Statement of Old Testament 
Position. 

CHAPTER IV. — The New Testament Position . 61 

Contrast between Present and Time of Christ. — 
Did Jesus give New Law of Health? — Matt, 
viii. 17. — Christ bore Death and Sorrow. — Did 
Jesus set up the Atonement Theory? — Healing 
Incidental. — Christ's Mission according to Luke 
and Isaiah. — The "Earnest." 



8 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

CHAPTER V. — St. James on Healing ... 83 

The "Prayer of Faith." — The Gifts of the Spirit. 
— New Testament Position Stated. 

CHAPTER VI. — Cases of New Testament Examined, 102 

CHAPTER VII. — The Practical Position . .109 

Dr. Cullis. — A. B. Simpson. — A. J. Gordon. — 
Carrie Judd Montgomery. — Mrs. Baxter. — John 
A. Dowie. — R. K. Carter. 

CHAPTER VIII. — Conclusion . . . -123 

Dr. John G. Paton.— Charlie Miller.— " Spiritual 
Loss." — Mrs. Kelley. — Major Cole. — The Means 
of Faith. 

APPENDIX 136 

Cases of Healing. — Heart Disease. — Sciatica. — 
Prostration. — Broken Joint. — Consumption. — Can- 
cer. — Neuralgia. — Cancer. — A Physician's Heal- 
ing. — R. Kelso Cartels Case. 

CLOSING REMARKS 162 



CHAPTER I. 

Reasons for Writing. 

IN 1884 the writer published an octavo volume called 
"The Atonement for Sin and Sickness/' of which 
two thousand copies were sold in about two years. In 
1888 John B. Alden issued a rewritten, revised and 
much enlarged edition under the name of " Divine 
Healing; or, The Atonement," etc. During the next 
three or four years a number of thousands of this were 
sold, probably six or eight thousand in all. 
Of this book leading notices were as follows : 

" The best writing upon this subject. What the Bible has to 
say upon this subject has not before been given with such order 
and method. 11 — Inter-Ocean, Chicago. 

" The one idea of Capt. Carter's ' Divine Healing ' is that the 
atonement of Christ is for the bodies of believers as well as for their 
souls. It is a strong and not unduly enthusiastic presentation of 
that theory." — Exa7niner. New York City. 

u It is a pretty hard matter to read it and lay it aside without 
believing in the Faith Cure. 1 ' — Express, Easton, Pa. 



IO " FAITH HEALING REVEIWED. 

' « This book is the leading authority on the subject; it is in 
part reprinted from the Century Magazine. Even those who have 
no faith in the * cure ' want to know what one of its honest and 
ablest advocates has to say about it." 

The above quotations, coupled with the fact that the 
Glossary of Scripture texts used in the book shows 
a total of three hundred and sixty different passages 
which are in some way considered, will abundantly sus- 
tain the statement of the Inter- Ocean that such an 
extensive Biblical treatment had not been given before. 
From a thorough acquaintance with all the important 
literature on this topic it may be added that up to 
the present time nothing has appeared which attempts 
to cover the whole ground gone over in this book. 
(Hereafter we will refer to it as D. H., and give page 
references from the revised edition only.) 

Before the issue of D. H. Dr. Cullis had printed two 
small volumes under the caption of "■ Faith Cures." 
He had also published the life of Dorothea Truedel. 
The first mentioned contained no special doctrine, but 
merely the relations of many cases of cure in answer 
to prayer, some of them very remarkable. " Dorothea 
Truedel " gave an interesting account of the work at 
Mannedorf, Switzerland, and furnished some cases of 



REASONS FOR WRITING. I I 

cures through prayer. A little later Dr. William Board- 
man put forth his " Great Physician," which was a move 
in the doctrinal direction, and to a considerable extent 
developed the subject from a general study of Scripture 
bearing upon it. Carrie Judd of Buffalo (now Mrs. 
George Montgomery of Beulah, Cal.) had printed her 
" Prayer of Faith," which, besides giving in detail her 
own extraordinary restoration to health in answer to 
prayer, made a brief attempt to present the matter as 
suitable for all believers. 

Then followed the late Dr. A. J. Gordon (whose 
personal friendship the writer afterwards enjoyed and 
prized) with his admirable study of faith cures in all 
ages of the church, under the name of '"The Ministry 
of Healing." Besides these may be mentioned such 
pamphlets as " Faith Healing," by Ethan Allen, an old 
saint of Springfield, Mass., and a small booklet by one 
Karl Andreas of London, England. A very few articles 
on the subject from the pen of Rev. A. B. Simpson of 
New York were also issued before the first edition of 
D. H. saw the light. But however excellent these books 
may have been as presentations of the subject, no one 
of them, nor indeed all put together, approached the 
exhaustive Biblical consideration given in D. H. Let 



12 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

it be understood we are not speaking of merit at all, 
but simply of the field covered. 

In the years that have passed since D. H. first 
appeared, several books have been added to the list 
above given. Pastor Stockmayer of Switzerland put 
forth two editions of " Sickness and the Gospel. " " Our 
Lord's Permanent Healing Office in His Church/' by 
Rev. George Morris, appeared in London. " Faith 
Healing: a Defence," by R. L. Marsh, a Yale student, 
was published by Revell in 1889; and later the same 
house issued " A Study of Faith Healing," by Alfred T. 
Schofield, M. D. Before this the life of Pastor Blum- 
hardt of Bad Boll, Germany, was published on the con- 
tinent, containing some most marvellous accounts of 
healing; and the writer prepared a small English 
booklet on that remarkable man, which was issued 
by the Willard Tract Repository of Boston. He also 
issued a small pamphlet called " Supernatural Gifts of 
the Spirit," dealing with the existence of the miraculous 
gifts in modern times, somewhat as was done by the 
great Horace Bushnell in his famous work, "Nature 
and the Supernatural." Schofield's work alluded to is 
rather an adverse study of the subject, but the others 
are all in favor of "Faith Healing." In 1892 Rev. 



REASONS FOR WRITING. 1 3 

William McDonald of Boston put out a small book on 
" Modern Faith Healing," striving to show from the 
New Testament that the special answer to prayer is the 
proper ground, and not the general provision in the 
Atonement for all believers. This same ground was 
taken by the learned Dr. Daniel Steele in two little 
tracts issued about the close of the decade. Mean- 
while Rev. A. B. Simpson of New York published 
several small books on the general subject, partly nar- 
ratives of experience and partly doctrinal, but never 
issued a complete treatise covering the whole ground. 

Rev. John A. Dowie, the Australian, now in Chicago, 
though the most robust advocate of the extreme theory, 
has never attempted to issue any exhaustive work upon 
the subject, his publications being almost wholly of the 
nature of narratives of cures in which he has had some 
part. His paper, " Leaves of Healing," contains many 
experiences as told in his meetings, but very little doc- 
trine. In his sermons, however, he goes into the matter 
with characteristic Scotch pugnacity, and takes the most 
radical ground. 

Up to this present time no work has appeared which 
attempts the systematic study of the whole Scriptures 
in order, from Genesis to Revelation, aiming to omit 



14 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

nothing whatever bearing upon the topic, and to logic- 
ally prove from all the sacred writings a consistent 
theory, and which at the same time takes up seriatim 
all the objections advanced by any writer of importance, 
except D. H. In it may be found treated every point 
so far advanced by any and . all the advocates above 
quoted, and about every objection presented from any 
and every standpoint. As a simple statement of fact, 
and in order to show that it is not necessary to go out- 
side this book in the present consideration of the theme, 
these things have to be said. 

Again, the first call for a " convention " to consider 
the matter of Faith Healing specifically was issued by 
George McCalla and R. K. Carter, from Philadelphia, in 
June, 1882. A copy of this call is now before me. The 
convention was held, some attending from as distant a 
point as Kansas; but it was small, and of no particular 
consequence except to those immediately concerned. 
In June, 1885, a great conference was held in Agricul- 
tural Hall, Islington, England, to which the writer was 
specially invited, with others from this country, but was 
unable to attend. 

In March, 1887, following some severe articles against 
the theory, written by Drs. SchaufBer and Buckley of 



REASONS FOR WRITING. 1 5 

New York, the Century Magazine published an article 
on "Divine Healing " by R. Kelso Carter, which has 
so far proved to be the only article of the kind ever 
admitted to the columns of such a periodical. That 
article is embodied in this book, as the best condensed 
statement of the theory available, and as expressing 
very nearly the minds of the most prominent advocates 
of the belief that the Atonement provides healing by 
faith for all who will accept it. 

In this country Dr. Charles Cullis began to pray with 
the sick about twenty years ago. In answer to his 
prayer, the writer was healed of stubborn heart disease in 
September, 1879, and being very closely associated with 
the doctor in most of his large conventions at Old Or- 
chard Beach, Intervale, and Beacon Hill Church, Bos- 
ton, as well as in his own home on terms of the closest 
friendship, he feels fully qualified to speak positively of 
Dr. Cullis's teaching and faith and practice. Several of 
these conventions at Old Orchard Beach, Me., were 
held during the summer seasons, and attended by many 
thousands who there heard of the " prayer of faith" as 
Dr. Cullis and others spoke of it in the open meetings ; 
and at one special service during each convention the 
doctor personally anointed with oil and prayed with all 



1 6 "FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

believers in Jesus who desired him to do so. The reg- 
ular preaching of " faith healing " was not a feature of 
any convention held by Dr. Cullis, he always insisting 
on holding the three preaching services of each day to 
the one theme of salvation from sin, as he never failed 
to see that the soul is of much greater importance than 
the body. In the opening minutes of the special 
prayer service for the sick, already alluded to, Dr. Cul- 
lis was wont to speak briefly on the subject, not exactly 
doctrinally, but rather experimentally, relating how he 
came to study James v. 14, 15, expressing his firm and 
unshaken belief of every word between the covers of 
the precious Book of God, and urging his hearers to 
simply give all to God, claim the promises, and trust 
God to fulfil them. 

During the years 1881-85 in this country existed the 
" wonder " stage of the modern development of" Faith 
Healing," the daily press taking up the subject and re- 
porting remarkable cases of cure at considerable length. 
Many times the writer has been compelled to sit down 
with a reporter at Old Orchard Beach, or elsewhere, 
and endeavor to answer his queries in such a way as to 
insure the nearest approach to the truth reaching the 
, public. Some of the cases of cures in those days 



REASONS FOR WRITING. 1 7 

attracted wide notice, and were discussed by secular and 
religious papers at great length, calling out expressions 
of approval or condemnation, but tending always to 
spread the interest in the subject and to awaken faith 
in many earnest minds. 

I About the middle of this period, Rev. A. B. Simpson 
of New York, who had withdrawn from the Presbyterian 
Church in order to give himself more entirely to work 
among the masses of the city, visited us at Old Orchard 
during the Dr. Cullis convention, and after remaining a 
few days, went up to Intervale in the White Mountains, 
and there was himself healed of heart trouble. Return- 
ing to New York, Dr. Simpson began the work which, 
in a dozen years, has developed into a large and active 
church, the largest missionary training college in the 
country, and a foreign missionary movement under the 
" Christian Alliance," the growth of which has been 
most phenomenal. In all his teachings Dr. Simpson 
has given a little more prominence to "Faith Healing" 
than Dr. Cullis did, but has never allowed the subject 
to claim more than a fraction of time or attention, hold- 
ing, as Cullis did, that the spiritual matters are much 
more important. With Dr. Simpson, in very many of 
his conventions, the writer has also been most closely 



1 8 "FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

associated, though never in any way connected with his 
work. 

About 1887 or 1888 there came to the Pacific coast 
an Australian Congregational preacher of Scotch birth, 
named John Alexander Dowie. Mr. Dowie had become 
famous in Australia for his positive advocacy of " Faith 
Healing," and had preached it over most of the impor- 
tant cities of that country. His presentation of the 
subject was quite radical, and, unlike our American 
teachers who had preceded him, he gave the whole of 
his time, or most of it, to this one theme. He remained 
on the Pacific coast some two years, and in the summer 
of 1889 came to Chicago, near which the writer met 
him and carefully listened to his entire course of " lec- 
tures " on the subject. No specially new points were 
presented, all being fully covered in D. H. or some of 
the other books already mentioned ; but the Scot en- 
forced his words with characteristic energy, and by 
mere dint of incessant hammering and a vehement per- 
sonality persuaded many to adopt his views. For sev- 
eral years after coming to Chicago his work did not 
attract a great deal of attention, but during the World's 
Fair crowds began to flock to his tabernacle, and since 
that time he has carried on quite an extensive work, 



REASONS FOR WRITING. 1 9 

during which many cases of healing have occurred. 
For a time Mr. Dowie was severely condemned by the 
press of Chicago, and suffered much unjust persecution 
at the hands of some whose opposition had been 
aroused, but at latest advices he was still prosecuting 
his work with vigor, and the storm of persecution had 
somewhat abated. 

The " nine-days wonder " concerning Faith Healing 
has long ago subsided. The daily press no longer con- 
cerns itself with the cases of to-day, unless some cir- 
cumstances conspire to make it very peculiar, or on 
account of some purely local interest. The theory, 
however, has added many believers in all parts of the 
world, and most of the teachers and writers mentioned 
have continued to advocate it in their meetings and 
writings. Some modifications have appeared, and 
some extremes have been marked in the positions held 
by leading faith healers, but in general the belief may 
still be expressed in the language and terms used in 
D. H. In its most condensed form it may be quoted from 
D. H., page 57, where recourse is had to the syllogism 
as follows : 

u 1. All forms of sickness and disease were included, 
and even mentioned particularly, in the ' curse of the 



20 "FAITH HEALING REVIEWED. 

law.' Ex. xv., Ex. xxiii. ; Lev. xxvi. ; Deut. vii., Deut. 
xxii ; etc. 

"2. ' Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the 
law.' Therefore Christ hath redeemed us from all sick- 
ness and disease. There is no future tense about it; 
the work is finished. Again, 

" I. Christ redeemed us from sin by His vicarious 
Atonement ; that is ' he was made sin for us/ 

" 2. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, by 
being made a curse for us. Therefore we are redeemed 
from all the ' curse of the law,' body, soul and spirit, 
solely through his vicarious Atonement. ,, 

On page 166 we read: "The Scriptures for the 
vicarious Atonement for sin are no more explicit than 
those for sickness ; the same words or phrases being 
used for both. Jesus is positively said to have borne our 
sins and our diseases," etc. 

Again, from page 146: "There is not a law given 
under Moses that is plainer and more positive than the 
law of physical health in Ex. xv. 26. And there is not 
a command given under the gospel more explicit and 
more clear in its attendant promise than the direction 
to the sick in James v. 14, 15. We believe that Jesus 
actually :< bore our sins in his own body on the tree/ 



REASONS FOR WRITING. 21 

and consequently we do not have to remain in sin. 
And we read that ' himself took our infirmities, and 
:bore our sicknesses.' How then can we possibly fail 
to see that ' by his stripes we are healed,' in body as 
well as in soul? " 

CUI BONO? 

It is always in order for one who has made a mistake 
to confess it. It is always good to state the truth of a 
matter, if it be stated at all. It is always the part of a 
true follower of Jesus to promptly get off a side-track to 
the main line when the discovery of position is made, 
and to do all in one's power to assist those who have 
been led astray from the exact truth to see clearly. 

Not every man can be made to see his mistake, and 
of those who can, only a few are willing and ready to 
confess and make reparation. The general tendency is 
to avoid publicity, and to " hedge " until one gradually 
becomes known to have changed sides. The writer 

< never had any disposition to so act in this matter. 
Over and over he was accustomed to say that he only 

i cared for the plain sense of the Scriptures, and that no 
one would be more prompt than he to tell it far and 

I wide if he saw he had misread the Bible. For the last 



22 " FAITH HEALING'' REVIEWED. 

half dozen years he has seen clearly that TO A DEGREE 
this has been the case, and during all that time he has 
desired greatly to write this " review," but has been 
prevented by circumstances beyond his control. Mean- 
while the private request of many thoughtful friends 
that it should be published has weighed heavily on his 
mind, and he has only waited on the possibilities in 
order to comply. 

But there exists another reason for this book. In all 
the writings in opposition to Faith Healing referred to, 
as, for example, those of Drs. Buckley and Schauffler, of 
Schofield and others, no one has ever attempted to step 
upon the solid Biblical foundation taken in D. H. and 
to discuss the real theology of the matter. Rev. Will- 
iam McDonald in his small book and Dr. Daniel Steele 
in his tracts deal with the subject doctrinally it is true, 
but neither of these attempts anything like a systematic 
answer to the exhaustive line of Biblical argument given 
in D. H., while the other writers quoted direct their 
efforts almost entirely to proving that there are no mi- 
raculous cures at all in these days, and that all the 
cases given currency may be explained on purely scien- 
tific lines. It is easy to see that the latter, therefore, 
never come within the pale of the real argument used 



REASONS FOR WRITING. 23 

by all devout advocates of " Faith Healing," namely, 
the consecutive teaching of the Old and New Testa- 
ments upon the subject. 

All this being true, it becomes the plain duty of the 
writer, in attempting to give his reasons for any change 
in his belief, to take up his own book and squarely 
meetit exactly on its own ground, showing just where and 
to what extent it was wrong. To this task we will now 
address ourselves as briefly as possible, and in the most 
prayerful spirit, for by the very nature of the subject 
we are treading upon holy ground in the estimation of 
countless thousands of devout Christians in all parts of 
the world. That this little book may be sent just as 
far as God can use it, is the earnest prayer of the 
writer. 



CHAPTER II. 

The Atonement Theory Stated. 

SINCE D. H. has long been out of print it seems best 11 
to give in as condensed a form as possible the spe- 
cial theory therein advocated, in order that there may be 
clearly pointed out just where lay the element of error 
in its reasoning, and at the same time to what ex- 
tent it was right. The article printed in the Century 
Magazine for March, 1887, will serve these purposes 
best, supplemented by special brief quotations as 
needed. We therefore reprint the article referred to in 
full: 

DIVINE HEALING, OR -FAITH CURE." 

A STATEMENT. 

By way of explanation it may be said that the writer has been 
most intimately associated with the ' ' faith-healing " movement 
ever since it first began to attract public attention in this country. 
Seven years ago he was healed of a stubborn case of organic heart 
disease, after the best physicians and the most favorable climate 
and manner of life had alike signally failed to afford relief. At 



THE ATONEMENT THEORY STATED. 2$ 

that time the literature concerning this subject was limited to two 
j or three small books, besides such general works as Horace 

Bushnell's ' ' Nature and the Supernatural ; " but of late it has grown 

into a considerable library, experimental and theological. In the 
| perusal of this mass of writing, and in the contributions which he 

has himself made to it, the writer has been necessarily placed in a 
I position to speak with authority on the question, What is the doc- 
t trine and practice of Divine Healing, as presented by its most 
. prominent advocates ? 

The object of this paper is to bring before the reader, as clearly 

as possible in such an exceedingly limited space, the real 7iature a?id 

ground for the doctrine that Jesus Christ has provided for be- 
' lievers the possibility of deliverance from the i?iward power of 

disease (as well as from sin), provided we meet all the Divine 
; conditions. 

THE AUTHORITY. 

The only authority to which any real recognition is accorded is 
found in the Bible. To the Word of our God we bow with abso- 
lute submission. What God says we propose to believe, whether 
we have been so fortunate as to prove it in our own experience or 
not. With Daniel Webster, we " believe religion to be not a mat- 
ter of demonstration, but of faith. God requires us to give credit 
! to the truths which He reveals, not because we can prove them, but 
because He declares them.' 1 Individual cases of healing, or phe- 
nomena, are absolutely worthless as to the question before us. 
All the cases in the world have nothing whatever to do directly 
with the doctrine of Divine Healing, for the very simple reason 
that they are not and never have been made the basis or ground of 



26 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

that doctrine. The only foundation is the Word of God, and hence 
the examination of cases per se has no direct bearing upon the sub- 
ject. But few men seek soul salvation, and some who appear to 
seek are not saved. It would be dangerous logic that discovered 
in this fact an error in the scheme of salvation. 

THE DOCTRINE. 

Passing rapidly over the time when Abraham, Isaac and Jacob 
each sought the Lord as the direct healer of physical diseases (see 
Genesis xx., xxv., xxx.), we come to the date of the Exodus, 
when God specially undertook the salvation of His people. Pre- 
sumptive evidence is strongly in favor of the transmission of medi- 
cal knowledge from the long-lived antediluvians, through Shem, 
who outlived Abraham, to the learned Egyptians of the time of 
Moses ; but direct evidence is conclusive as to the advanced 
state of this knowledge. Clement of Alexandria (second century) 
mentions six hermetic books of Egyptian medicine, one of which 
was devoted to surgical instruments ; and the learned George 
Ebers abundantly proves from ancient papyri that there were 
colleges of medicine, medical specialists and much skill in surgery 
before the days of Moses. Herodotus also testifies upon this 
point. But " Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyp- 
tians,' 1 hence he must have possessed the highest medical knowl- 
edge of his age. Notwithstanding all this, when the Exodus 
occurred God did not direct the people to go to Moses for treat- 
ment, but gave them, unasked, a clear and distinct promise of 
exemption from disease, on the condition of obedience. In Exo- 
dus xv. 26, we read, " If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice 



THE ATONEMENT THEORY STATED. 2 J 

of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, 

■ and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, 

I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought 

2 upon the Egyptians : for I am the Lord that healeth thee " (or, I 

am the Lord thy healer) . 

This promise was tested again and again. Moses prayed for 
leprosy (Numbers xii. 13), and Aaron for the plague (Numbers 
xvi. 47, 48). The serpent's bite found its cure solely through 
faith (Numbers xxi. 9), and the pestilence vanished when David 
sacrificed (II Samuel xxiv. 25). The Psalmist declares that when 
the children of Israel walked through the wilderness, " there was 
not one feeble [sick] person among their tribes" (Psalm cv. 37) ; 
and Solomon reminded the people that there had not failed one 
word of all the promises given through Moses (I Kings viii. 56). 

In the fifth commandment we find the most explicit assurance of 
physical life, on the condition of obedience to parents. Passing on 
we read passages like the following, which cannot be disputed on 
any ground whatever : " O that there were such an heart in them, 
that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, 
that it might be well with them, and with their children forever n 
(Deuteronomy v. 29). 44 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the 
Lord your God hath commanded you, . . . that ye may prolong 
your days in the land which ye shall possess " (v. 33). " If thou 
shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak, ... I will 
take sickness away from the midst of thee n (Exodus xxiii. 22, 25). 
44 If ye hearken to these judgments, and keep and do them, . . . 
the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none 
of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but 



28 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

will lay them upon all them that hate thee " (Deuteronomy vii. 
12, 15. See also Leviticus xxvi. 15, 16, and Deuteronomy xxviii. 
58-62). Beyond all possible controversy, exemption from disease 
was held out to the Jew, 

David's understanding of this and his testimony upon the subject 
are both very clear. He says, "The Lord is the strength of my 
life " (Psalm xxvii. 1). "O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, 
and thou hast healed me " (xxx. 2). " O Lord, thou hast brought 
up my soul from the grave ; thou hast kept me alive, that I should 
not go down to the pit" (xxx. 3). Out of a great many other 
utterances of the King of Israel, read especially Psalms xli. 3 ; xci. 
1-6; ciii. 2-5. When Solomon dedicated the temple he made a 
distinct request for healing in answer to prayer, and the Lord dis- 
tinctly promised to hear (see II Chronicles viii. 13, 14). When 
David's child was sick, we read of a prophet, and not of a physi- 
cian. Even the mighty sinner Jeroboam knew where to send when 
disease struck his child ; and, later, the sternest rebuke and punish- 
ment were pronounced on Ahaziah because he forgot there was a 
God in Israel, and sent to inquire of Baalzebub. 

There is no mistaking the lesson in the cases of Asa and Heze- 
kiah. God had blessed and saved the former, but when " diseased 
in his feet ... he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians. 
And Asa slept with his fathers, and died 11 (II Chronicles xvi. 12, 
13). Two hundred years after this, Hezekiah prayed and was 
miraculously healed ; God's instrument being once more a prophet 
and not a physician ; and, in answer to the King's prayer, the peo- 
ple were also healed. But when Hezekiah neglected to tell the 
messengers of the King of Babylon what a wonderful deliverance 



THE ATONEMENT THEORY STATED. 29 

God had sent him, the judgment o. neaven fell upon him also (II 
Chronicles xxxii. 31, and II Kings xx. 12). 

In the days of Hezekiah, Isaiah the prophet lived and wrote. 
In the great atonement chapter we find the forecast of the coming 
; Messiah expressed in the following literal readings: "A man of 
pains, and acquainted with sickness" (v. 3). " Surely our sick- 
nesses he hath borne, and our pains he hath carried them " (4). 
44 And by his bruise there is healing to us " (5). " And Jehovah 
hath delighted to bruise him ; he hath made him sick " (10). 

The above is Dr. Robert Young's translation, made, of course, 
without the faintest idea of assisting modern " faith-healers. " Dr. 
Isaac Leeser gives a significant rendering of the fourth verse : 
I But only our diseases did he bear himself, and our pains he 
carried/ 1 Now, in view of the facts developed above, what sort of 
mind would it have required in a Jew to say that this chapter only 
referred to spiritual blessings? But we have a sure and certain 
commentator on this point. 

In Matthew viii. 16, 17, we find the distinct declaration that 
Jesus ' ' healed all that were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was 
spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmi- 
ties, and bare our sicknesses." Here the Holy Ghost, through 
Matthew, says Isaiah spoke of the body ; but in I Peter ii. 24, we 
find the Spirit, speaking through that apostle, quoting these very 
words as applicable to the soul. The only inference must be that 
both are true, and that the atonement provided for both soul and 
body. If Pete)' can be relied on for the present day, so can Mat- 
thew, and if Matthew s words have no present force and applica- 
tion, neither have Peters. 



30 "FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

The Jew believes in a material kingdom ; the Christian in a 
spiritual dominion. Both are right in what they receive, and 
wrong in what they reject. Jesus Christ did not abolish the 
decalogue and the moral law ; the ceremonial alone passed away. 
We are not playing at see-saw with the Jew. Laws of health and 
healthy food are the same as they were in the days of Moses, and 
the best physicians are continually indorsing the sanitary and 
dietetic regulations of the great Hebrew leader. 

Jesus Christ never turned away from those who sought healing 
at His hands. He specially commissioned the twelve to heal as 
well as to preach ; and, later, the same commission was given to 
the seventy (Luke ix. 1-6 and x. 1-19). The only limit to these 
benefits was unbelief, as is plainly declared in Mark vi. 5 and Luke 
iv. 27. His last words, according to Mark, contain a positive 
promise of the *' signs" which should " follow them that believe," 
among which we find the healing of the sick through the laying on 
of hands. This was not a promise to the apostles, but to 
'• them that believe.' 1 The apostles took up the work of healing as 
an important part of the gospel. " Such as I have give I thee," 
said Peter at the beautiful gate of the temple.- In those days a 
man who, like Stephen, was full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, 
almost of necessity did great signs and wonders among the people ; 
and simple healings abounded everywhere. When the unbelievers 
raged against them, the apostles did not merely ask for more grace 
to bear it, but actually prayed for signs and wonders, in the name 
of Jesus (Acts iv. 30). 

In Corinthians Paul speaks frequently of bodily matters, and 
specially mentions the several < * gifts of the Spirit " which were 






THE ATONEMENT THEORY STATED. 3 1 

i then in the church. Now k ' gifts of healing' 1 stand on precisely 

the same ground with the others. The church does not discard 

the i; word of wisdom"' or the "word of knowledge, 11 nor throw 

away > ' governments ; " indeed, she is well-nigh governed to death 

in these days. But if one has lapsed, why not all? In Ephesians 

i. 14, Paul speaks of the "earnest of our inheritance. 11 Part of 

this inheritance is to have our mortal bodies quickened by his 

Spirit (Romans viii. 11). kt He that hath the Son hath life," and 

I it is, therefore, concluded that u Christ within you, the hope of 

5 glory, 11 must or may give an earnest, or a foretaste, for the body 

) as well as for the soul. An impartation of the Divine life is looked 

: for, enabling the man to perform any and all God-directed work 

until the day of his death, if he dies before the second advent. 

Finally, we have the unanswerable direction to the sick in James 
v. 14, 15. " Is any sick among you? [among you believers] 
let him call for the elders of the church ; and let them pray over 
him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord : and the 
prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up ; 
and if he have committed sins [as a cause of the complaint] they 
shall be forgiven him." On this passage we remark that John 
Wesley quotes and indorses Bengel as saying that ' ' this was the 
whole process of physic in the Christian church, till it was lost 
through unbelief.*' Dr. Daniel Steele says that the man who 
attempts to represent the word ''sick 11 as having any other mean- 
ing than bodily ailment, is u either an ignoramus in Greek or an 
intentional deceiver ; " and Dean Alford most forcibly declares that 
the whole passage refers to physical disorders and to these only. 
As to the knowledge of medicine in the time of Christ, there is 



32 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

abundant evidence to show that it was extensive and profound. 
Following Hippocrates (B. C. 460), who mentions no fewer than 
two hundred and sixty-five drugs, besides many dietary and surgi- 
cal remedies, arose the schools of medicine under Herophilus, a 
profound anatomist, and Erasistratus, his rival. (Doctors disagreed 
in those days as well as at present.) After these came the Empiric 
school (280 B. C), whose physicians were very successful, espe- 
cially in surgery and the use of drugs ; and later on Asclepiades, the 
friend of Cicero, founded a system known as " Methodism.'' 1 The 
medical knowledge of the Roman Empire came from these men. 
This is sufficient to show that healing by faith was not instituted 
because of the ignorance of scientific methods. 

One point needs to be especially guarded. Death is a conse- 
quence of sin, and is included in "the curse of the law." But 
'* Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law 1 ' (Galatians 
iii. 13), and a logical conclusion would lead us to expect transla- 
tion, were it not for a number of special scriptures which expressly 
declare that this is not included at present (see Hebrews ix. 27, 
28 ; Romans viii. 10-22 ; I Corinthians xv. 23-32 ; Colossians iii. 
4; Hebrews ii. 8). These texts withhold the boon of translation 
from the direct covenant, and retain it in the special providence of 
God, except for the living, waiting saints at the second advent. 
They have its sure promise. 

" Jesus Christ, the same, yesterday, to-day and .forever," is a 
tremendous declaration. Now we have seen that the promises of 
God most undeniably contain the assurance of physical health, on 
condition of obedience. These promises have not been outlawed 
by time. We cannot throw them away without sacrificing the 






THE ATONEMENT THEORY STATED. 33 

decalogue and the moral law. An unbroken line of leaders, kings 
and prophets carry them down to the present gospel dispensation, 
and they are ours to-day. In II Corinthians i. 20, we read: 
f For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him amen, 
unto the glory of God by us." These are included in the " all," 
therefore they are yea and amen in Christ, and therefore are based 
upon His vicarious atonement. The conditions to-day are the 
same as of old. We mast believe, and obey. Belief is faith, and 
obedience is works. " Faith without works is dead;** so belief 
and simple obedience cannot be separated. When Naaman joined 
his obedience to his belief, and dipped in Jordan, faith and works 
were united, and salvation resulted. It is ever so. 

THE PRACTICE. 

1. " Faith-healers " believe in the use of means. The Scrip- 
tural means are always employed : — (1) Lay ing-on of hands, (2) 
anointing with oil, (3) the prayer of faith. They also believe in 
occasional leadings of the Spirit to employ other means, which 
may be inherently efficacious or not. 

2. No one is advised by any prominent leader or teacher to lay 
aside all medicines, unless he can do so with perfect spontaneity. 
Forced abstinence is will power, not faith. 

3. Faith in the patient is regarded as necessary when the indi- 
vidual is responsible. Even the man "borne of four*' and let 
down through the roof had to obey the command to rise. Rare 
exceptions are known where the individuals have not been aware 
of the prayer offered in their behalf. These can be included under 
general answers to prayer. They are certainly conclusively against 
the supposition of any subjective condition of the patient. 



34 "FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

4. A perfect consecration of the whole spirit, soul and body is 
strongly urged. It would be almost blasphemous to ask for heal- 
ing with any other view than the entire devotement to God of the 
renewed powers. Hence the universal experience of spiritual 
blessings in those who seek to be healed. 

5 . Inquirers are instructed to believe that they do receive, when 
the Spirit witnesses within that their consecration and obedience 
are complete, and the prayer has been offered. "What things 
soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye 
shall have them, 1 ' is the warrant for acting out the belief; that is, 
acting as if you were well. The leaders in this movement have 
themselves received life and health while following this same plan 
of action, and therefore give this advice with all knowledge and 
honesty. 

6. The laying-on of hands, prayer and anointing are distinctly 
taught to be of no efficacy in themselves, any more than Jordan 
was to Naaman. But it is held that " to obey is better than 
sacrifice." 

7. Those who fail to get saved and those who fail to be healed 
afford no argument against the continuance of preaching or praying. 
Lists of failures are not kept in either case ; and the real reason lies 
in the fact presented in the very beginning of this article, that the 
doctrines of Christianity are not founded on phenomena, but upon 
the Word of God alone. 

8. All who weigh the meaning of words counsel the use of 
such terms as will be mutually intelligible. A man who is exer- 
cising faith, but whose symptoms continue, is advised to say I be- 
lieve, and not I feel. 






THE ATONEMENT THEORY STATED. 35 

9. It is taught that Satan can tempt to sickness, precisely as 
he can tempt to inward sin, by producing a symptom. He can con- 
sistently advise the use of a medicine to one who is striving to fix 
his faith upon God alone ; especially when he thinks that the rem- 
edy will prove unavailing- In any case such action is more con- 
sistent in him than that of those good people who profess to believe 
that it is the will of God for them to suffer, and at the same time 
spend time and wealth for every conceivable medicine, in the 

; attempt to defeat that will by getting well. 

10. Finally, it is distinctly taught that Divine Healing, like 
every branch of salvation, is a matter of personal experience, and 
as such is not susceptible of perfectly logical explanation to the 
unbeliever. To him all such things are " foolishness,' 1 but 4i to us 
who believe" they become '-the power of God. v Every saved or 
healed man can testify from his heart : - 4 One thing I know, that 
whereas I was blind, now I see,"' though he may utterly fail to con- 
vince the scribes and Pharisees. 

True or false, there is no belief rising more swiftly before the 
churches everywhere than that of Divine Healing. There are over 
thirty •* faith homes " in America to-day. In England and on the 
continent of Europe can be found a large number, some of them 
commodious institutions with a history of many decades of years. 
In June, 1885. an international conference on this subject assembled 

London, composed of delegates from all parts of the world ; and 
die great Agricultural Hall was taxed to its utmost to accommodate 
the serious crowds that flocked to hear. During the last two sea- 
sons a number of conventions have been held in New York, Brook- 
lyn, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburg, Detroit, and elsewhere, in 



36 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

all of which Divine Healing has claimed an important part. The 
mass of evidence offered, the multitude of witnesses arising, and 
the words of Scripture on the subject demand at least a respectful 
hearing, and invite the closest scrutiny into the doctrine and prac- 
tice of Divine Healing. R. Kelso Carter. 



CHAPTER III. 

Testing the Foundations. 

IT cannot have escaped the notice of any careful 
reader of Faith-Healing literature that the chief 
foundation for the theory has always been laid with Old 
Testament materials. Such texts as Ex. xv. 26 and 
Deut. vii. 15 will be seen in glancing again over the 
argument just quoted, to be the real backbone of the 
belief. In saying this we do not neglect the fifty-third 
of Isaiah, but speak advisedly, for there is no doubt 
that without the very explicit promises just cited and 
the narrative of instances where God's healing power 
was so signally shown, as in the cases of Miriam, Heze- 
kiah and others, the more or less figurative language of 
Isaiah would not form sufficient basis for any such radi- 
cal theory as the one we are considering. 

Just here we call attention to the fact that nearly all 
the critics who have argued against or sneered at Faith 
Healing have displayed a remarkable unanimity of 
disposition to avoid this Old Testament foundation alto- 

37 



38 "FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

gether. It has really appeared that they were afraid 
of it, and deemed it best and safest for their case not 
to refer to it at all. We think that the real reason 
for this ignoring of the numerous strong utterances of 
the Old Testament on the subject lies in the fact that 
they instinctively feared to bring them up lest they 
should not be able to set aside their force ; hence the 
only safe way was to let them severely alone. It was 
for this, in past days, that the writer scored such oppo- 
nents as Dr. Buckley of the Christian Advocate, asking 
why he, a minister of Jesus Christ and the Bible, 
should base all his arguments on " phenomena," and 
leave the Word of God, with all its voluminous sayings 
on the subject, entirely out of the matter. When Dr. 
Buckley studied the " Evidences of Christianity " he 
did not so learn the orthodox method of meeting an 
opponent who argued almost entirely from Scripture. 

We cannot help thinking that the force of the very 
numerous passages in the Old Testament bearing upon 
healing was and is so overwhelming that no Christian 
minister relishes running up against them unless he is 
very, very clearly prepared to discuss them ; and 
therefore, as he is not ready to accept their literal 
meaning in the premises, he dodges them altogether. 



TESTING THE FOUNDATIONS. 39 

Certain it is that, as has been said, no one of all the 
writers against Faith Healing has ever taken up the 
matter from the beginning of the Scripture and fol- 
lowed it through to the end, as was done in D. H. 
Nearly all their powder was expended in shooting at 
I cases," and in showing that the power of the imagi- 
nation has chiefly to do with cures. But, as this 
method of replying is really not replying at all, and 
as the Scriptures are and always have been the sole 
ground for the doctrine of Faith Healing as taught by 
its leading advocates, it becomes us, in attempting to 
show an element of mistake in that doctrine, to examine 
into the very basis of the argument upon its own ground. 
Nearly all sensible men can draw correct conclusions 
from a set of premises. If the latter be sound, of 
course the conclusion holds ; but if the premises be 
defective, the whole argument falls to the ground. No 
matter how heavy and strong a door may be, if the 
hinge be pulled out the structure drops at once. It is 
therefore of the first importance to look to the hinges 
upon which the subject swings ; for if the conclusion is 
really false, then it follows that there must be some- 
where a faulty hinge which escaped the notice of the 
builder. A thousand times the writer has declared in 



40 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

public and private, " If I have read the Scriptures cor- 
rectly, THEN I KNOW the conclusion is sound — Jesus 
Christ has provided for physical health now and here, 
just as He has provided for soul healing ; but if I have 
misread the Scriptures anywhere, I devoutly pray that 
it may be pointed out to me." Suffice it to say that 
such a misreading was pointed out, not by any writer 
against Faith Healing, but by the operation of the Holy 
Spirit through long experience, close study and much 
prayer. Let us now examine into the matter and test 
the foundations. 

The Old Testament position seems to be that the 
Jew was promised healing and health if he kept the 
commandments, and warned of terrible diseases coming 
upon him if he transgressed. His history is punctuated 
with cases of healing by faith, and with instances of 
punishment by sickness. The distance between the 
Testaments is spanned by an arch, one end resting 
upon the fifty-third of Isaiah, the great " Atonement 
chapter," and the other finding its pier in Matt. viii. 17 
" Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses/ 

Our study need not be a long one. That the Israel 
ite was indeed promised health if he kept the com- 
mandments, is too plain to be denied for a moment. It 






TESTING THE FOUNDATIONS. 41 

is there, over and over again ; but even this statement 
requires careful examination and a testing to determine 
whether it, as the substructure, is able to bear the 

-extreme weight afterwards put upon it. 

Reading over all these old promises w r e see that they, 

■ without exception, hinge upon an "if." Everywhere it 

I reads, " If ye will keep all my statutes." But again we 
notice that the strongest promise of all, that in Deut. 
vii., turns upon two conditions: first, their residing "in 

I the land," the land of promise; and, second, the rigid 
keeping of all the statutes. Now be it remembered 
that those " statutes " contained a most admirable sys- 
tem c f sanitary and dietary laws which have never been 
excelled for effectiveness. Food, clothing and methods 
of sanitation were specifically described and set in limits 
of scientific safety. Then the land itself w r as about the 
best in the inhabited earth, with features most perfectly 
adapted to drainage and all sanitary precautions, and 
at the same time possessed climatic conditions as near 
perfect as the earth has seen since the deluge. 

Stop and consider these facts, and then answer 
whether there be any new T gospel of health under 
such a regime. Given a splendid country with amply 
diversified surface, pure water, mild seasons, rich and 



42 " FAITH HEALING REVIEWED. 

marvellously productive soil ; a code of laws for food, 
clothing, sanitation and even personal bodily habits, 
which cannot be improved upon by the best modern 
science; then people this land with a race whose 
fathers had spent forty years in the physical training 
afforded by the dry, warm, healthy desert, living on a 
fare which in all that time only once or twice broke 
through the very quintessence of simple, pure, God- 
made diet; and then consider what epidemic or zy- 
motic disease would have any chance of entering such 
a land and fastening upon such a people blessed with 
so matchless a heredity and guarded by such perfect 
law. 

The fact is that the healthy results of such conditions 
and practices will bring forth exactly to-day the fac- 
similes of the days of Joshua. There is nothing, abso- 
lutely nothing to fear in admitting without reserve that 
the Israelite had positive health guaranteed him by God 
in the land of Canaan. It is true. He did. But it was 
" in the land," and " if he kept all the statutes." Who 
will dare to say that any people who will live in such a 
land, and follow carefully such matchless laws in every 
detail to-day, will not enjoy just as good health as the 
Israelites ever did ? Find a people who for a genera 









TESTING THE FOUNDATIONS. 43 

tion or two have lived continuously in a dry, warm, fer- 
tile, hilly land, and have persevered in the strictest 
.sanitary regulations, eaten proper amounts of perfectly 
healthy food, dressed in the best materials for their cli- 
mate, faithfully rested, — not merely changed the style 
of their work from business worry to church and Sun- 
day-school toil, — but actually rested in quietness one 
whole day in seven ; who have not overworked or 
overworried, and have given plenty of time to sleep; 
who have never been rendered desperate by the pros- 
pect of their children having no possessions, or of im- 
mediate starvation, but who have been always permitted 
to glean freely behind the reapers and to share in the 
vintages, and have been cheered by the certainty of re- 
covering any land they may have been forced to part 
with at the next jubilee; — find, we say, such a people 
as this, and you have one in the w T hole length and 
breadth of whose land hardly one physician could make 
a decent living, and among whom surgery, except for 
accidents, would be a lost art. 

The people did not turn to Moses with his " all the 
learning of the Egyptians " for healing. Why should 
they, when Moses, at God's direction, instructed them 
so perfectly how to keep well? The gospel of health 



44 "FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

in the land of Canaan was chiefly that contained in the 
proverb, " An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of 
cure." All written in D, H. about God's keeping the 
Israelites well is true enough. He did keep them. 
But the METHOD He followed was to throw the practical 
responsibility upon them as reasoning beings, and to 
expect them to keep themselves by keeping His com- 
mandments. And doing this, of course, they needed 
no other physician. They had the best in the uni- 
verse, and one who treated them, not as ignorant chil- 
dren, disguising His remedies in an unknown tongue, 
but took them straight into His confidence, explaining 
the whole method of preservation to them, and then 
telling them, " Do this, and thou shalt live." 

We say, therefore, to the advocate of Faith Healing 
to-day : On what ground are you standing when you 
attempt to claim those Old Testament promises? Are 
you living in such a land as was Palestine in the days 
of Joshua? Are you dressing in strictly sanitary cloth- 
ing? Are you eating only the most healthful food, or 
do you disregard Moses's bill of fare altogether and fill 
your stomach with those kinds of meat most likely to 
carry microbes into the system? Are you giving on 
seventh of your time to positive rest, or do you trave 



: 



TESTING THE FOUNDATIONS. 45 

iaily on the lightning express train of hurry, hurry, 
lurry? What right have you to claim Ex. xv. 26 as 
your health-insurance policy, when you are most likely 
smashing one half of the required " statutes" all to bits 
every week you live ? 

Remember that those promises were given to the na- 
tion of Israel, not directly to the individual considered 
apart from the nation. True, the whole is composed of 
its parts, and the nation is made up of individuals ; but 
do not be so foolish as to imagine that God intended 
, always to miraculously preserve solitary persons in the 
.midst of a general disregard for His laws. The whole 
.history of God's dealings with His people disproves such 
an assumption. A faithful " seven thousand " did truly 
. call out the saving power of Jehovah in the long run, 
but it did not prevent the prevalence of famine and 
trouble in the whole land.* God specially took care 
of Elijah, but no general theory can be founded on 
that; quite the reverse. It points clearly to the theory 
of special providences at the supreme will of the Lord. 
In revising D. H. in 1884 the force of these condi- 

* So to-day the individual Christian, no matter how holy, living in malarious Africa, 
and more or less neglectful of the best rules of health, generally succumbs to the fever in 
a short time, unless blessed with an unusually fine heredity. 



46 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

tions was seen to a considerable extent, and the follow- 
ing language was used, D. H., page 182 : 

"The conditions laid down for our observance are 
very particular and absolutely rigid. These conditions 
have been overlooked by the majority in their eagerness 
to obtain the gift. It is ever so. We are all apt to 
jump over the intervening objects in order to reach our 
aim, and all too frequently we thus leave dangerous foes 
in the rear, and ourselves unprotected from their as- 
sault. In revising this book I find the conditions all 
there, and clearly stated, but not emphasized as they 
should be in order to guard against the weakness re- 
ferred to. I therefore warn every reader to pay special 
attention to the conditions attached to the promises 
quoted from Scripture." 

Again, on page 55, we read in italics, " If the church 
would obey the injunction of verse 31, 'Whether there- 
fore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all for the 
glory of God,' and obey it in the last and least particu- 
lar, the doctors would have to look to the world for 
support." 

What right have we to take a promise from the Bible 
and throw away the attached conditions? Perhaps 
some poorly informed mind will reply that we are not 



TESTING THE FOUNDATIONS. 47 

now " under the law, but under grace." Then, if you 
disclaim the condition because it was ordered under the 
law, what possible business have you with the promise, 
which was most distinctly given under the same law? 
Remember that the real " laws of health" are the same 
that they were three thousand years ago. There has 
been no change. There could not be, for these laws 
] are the expression of the facts of nature about us ; they 
are dependent absolutely upon our environment. Go 
into the miasmatic Nile valley to-day and live in the 
I midst of decaying vegetable matter, and you will likely 
i soon know by experience what Moses was talking about 
. when he spoke of " fevers " and " the burning ague." 
But take up your residence in the " mountains of 
Israel," and you will be cured of your ague more effec- 
tually than by quinine. A mere observance of the fre- 
quent ablutions directed by Moses will do wonders of 
healing in many cases. "Wash and be clean" is sound 
advice to multitudes of the diseased in all parts of the 
world. 

Before making too lofty a mountain of the promise 
in Ex. xv., it is well to remember the dense ignorance 
of the people to whom it was given. Who among 
modern advocates of Faith Healing have stopped to 



48 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

picture the physical condition of the vast horde of 
slaves that emerged from the horrible bondage of 
Egypt under the guidance of the great lawgiver? Read 
the best literature on the subject and try to imagine 
the inexpressible horrors of that oppression under the 
Pharaohs who " knew not Joseph." Think of the na- 
tion of Israel dwelling in filthy hovels built of Nile 
mud and straw, standing in the reeking soil by the 
river, in long unshaded rows, with no possible drain- 
age, no decent provision for the removal of offal and 
refuse, no time for bathing, no money to purchase 
change of raiment, no hours of rest beyond the few of 
the night's cessation from awful toil, no medical atten- 
tion from the many specialists of Egypt, no proper 
food from childhood up, in fact nothing which they 
needed for health and preservation ; living under a 
cloud of despair, and dying like sheep in a storm, with- 
out alleviation of their misery, and without hope for 
their posterity. Truly the fact of their increase under 
such trials is in itself a miracle second to none in the 
whole marvellous list ; and the other fact that when they 
w r ent into the wilderness, as the Psalmist says, " There 
was not one feeble person in all their tribes " (Ps. cv. 
37), demonstrates another miracle of a like nature. 



TESTING THE FOUNDATIONS. 49 

With all this in view we are better able to see the 
reason for such " laws of health " as those formulated 
through Moses. The people needed direction about 
every detail. They knew nothing, simply nothing. 
They needed instruction in the very elements, and re- 
ceived it with attendant promises and warnings to stim- 
ulate them to observe the new regulations. Any mis- 
sionary who has struggled for years with a pack of 
dirt-loving savages, in the endeavor to teach them 
habits of systematic cleanliness, will no doubt feel a 
. sympathy with Moses as he formulated the new laws of 
the Exodus, and appreciate better than most men the 
force of the proverb which declares that that virtue is 
f next to godliness." 

We must not read into the promises of the Old Tes- 
tament a sense which did not exist either in the minds 
of the writers or the hearers. THERE WAS NO DIRECT 
MIRACLE EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED IN Ex. XV. OR DEUT. 
VII., nor do they afford any ground for the extreme 
position taken by D. H. and other writings that the 
Atonement has provided exemption from sickness if 
we only meet all conditions, that is, obey fully the 
Spirit of God. THOSE PROMISES STAND TO-DAY FOR 
ALL THAT THEY WERE WORTH TO ISRAEL IN THE LAND, 



50 " FAITH HEALING REVIEWED. 

BUT THEY CERTAINLY DO NOT STAND FOR ANY MORE. 
And how much they then stood for, we have now fully 
seen. We do not propose to give them up. God for- 
bid. Would that more could be persuaded to really 
claim them, or rather put themselves in the position to 
claim them, by carefully keeping the statutes contained 
in the health law. We do not relinquish the moral 
law. Of course not. It has not lost an ounce of 
weight from age. It depends on principles grounded 
deep in the nature of things as made by God. But the 
same is true of the laws of health, and we can as easily 
set aside the one as the other. 

OLD TESTAMENT CASES OF HEALING. 

The cases of healing recorded in Scripture are of the 
greatest importance, for they may be considered as 
commentaries and illustrations. No time will be wasted 
in discussing their genuineness (except by infidels in 
general, either out of or in the nominal church), and 
therefore they must be understood as setting forth in a 
parable the mind and purpose of God. It is with great 
interest that we carefully read over the accounts of the 
sickness and healing of Abimelech's household (Gen. 
xx. 17), Rebekah's barrenness (Gen. xxv. 21), Miriam's 



TESTING THE FOUNDATIONS. 5 1 

;leprosy (Num. xii. 13), Job's boils (Job ii. 7), Han- 
nah's prayer for a son (I Samuel ii.), the Shunamite's 
son and the poisoned dish of herbs (II Kings iv.), 
, Naaman's leprosy (II Kings v.), Hezekiah's illness (II 
Kings xx.) ( the case of Asa (II Chron. xvi.) : these 
with the unhealed blindness of Isaac, of Jacob, of Eli 
and of Samson, and the obsession of King Saul and 
the senile weakness of David in his last days, constitute 
about all to be considered. A few more like the sick- 
i ness of King Ahaziah and of Jeroboam's child, besides 
the child of David and Bathsheba, serve as shadows to 
the picture, and aid in bringing out the healings in bold 
relief. 

After a candid examination of these cases, who can 
■ fail to conclude (from them alone) that healing by the 
; direct power of God was a special favor, sent often in 
' answer to believing prayer, but absolutely at the su- 
preme will of Jehovah? The good Isaac — a special 
type of Christ as the Prince of Peace — prayed for 
some twenty years before the Lord healed Rebekah. 
In this case, however, the healing was granted. It is 
impossible to suppose that Isaac and his wife did not 
pray that his failing sight should be restored by the 
same all-powerful hand ; yet the fact remains that the 



52 "FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

good old man lived, after the episode of the birthright 
sale and the blessing on his sons, for over forty years. 
His son Jacob had a somewhat similar experience, and 
though he was so near God that his " blessing prevailed 
above the blessings of his progenitors' unto the utmost 
bounds of the everlasting hills" (Gen. xlix. 26), yet 
he also was blind and unable to see the difference be- 
tween Ephraim and Manasseh. God guided his hands 
by inspiration, but did not see fit to heal his blindness. 

The very manner in which Moses is referred to at 
his death shows most conclusively that such preserva- 
tion of sight and strength was phenomenal and special. 
He had given the law, and was truly a wonderful ex- 
ample of the possibility of keeping it ; yet there is no 
suggestion of a RIGHT in the matter of his remarkable 
vigor, but rather the noting of it as extraordinary, just 
as in the case of Caleb. No one would ever think of 
these two cases as anything but exceptions to the rule, 
if they were simply studied apart from any theory. 
Much the same may be said of the blindness of Eli. 
He was able to interpret the word of the Lord, but he 
was not healed of his infirmity. 

The case of Samson is noteworthy. He was a young 
man, dying at about forty years of age. He did not 



TESTING THE FOUNDATIONS. 53 

lose his sight on account of ill health, but by mechani- 
cal means in the hands of the enemies of his people. 
The " Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him" 
again ; and even after his last yielding to Delilah and 
; his punishment in the prison of the Philistines, his 
prayer brought down once more the power of God, 
land he did more in his death than in all his life. Yet 
3 we do not read of any prayer for his sight, and cer- 
tainly he died blind. " Deserved it? " says some one. 
Ah ! which of us deserves healing or any other mercy 
from God? It is not wise to assume the judicial ermine 
in such cases. That belongs to the Lord alone. 

King David, the " man after God's own heart," has 
furnished believers in Faith Healing with more texts 
than any other single writer in the Old Testament; 
such as: "The Lord is the strength of my life" (Ps. 
xxvii. i); "For with thee is the fountain of life" 
(xxxvi. 9) ; " Unto God the Lord belong the issues from 
death " (Ixviii. 20) ; all of Ps. xci. and much of ciii. and 
cvii. are very sheet anchors in the argument. But while 
it was true that David declared upon one occasion, " O 
Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed 
me " (xxx. 2), yet it is also true that the answer was 
sometimes withheld ; and in his old age he was afflicted 



54 "FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

with anaemia and general debility, for which no cure was 
found. 

Job, the " perfect man," evidently considered him- 
self entitled to health, wealth and prosperity because of 
" the integrity of his hands ; " which belief was also 
strongly held by his friends, as proved by their berat- 
ing him and accusing him of sin as a reason for his mis- 
fortunes. But the record of inspiration goes behind the 
scenes and reveals the positive permission of God to the 
powers of evil to afflict His servant. Without at present 
discussing the merits of the case, it is clear that the im- 
pression one would receive from an unprejudiced read- 
ing of the story is that God deals with men as He 
pleases, and that health or sickness, while generally 
depending on the keeping of the laws of health, are 
specially in the hands of the Lord. In other words, 
God may heal in answer to prayer and He may not. 

But what a difference is apparent when we study the 
Old Testament on the SIN QUESTION ! From Genesis 
to Malachi not one case can be found of a man who 
prayed diligently for soul healing in vain. Not a case 
can be produced in which God inflicted sin on a man 
either directly or permissively. This alone ought to 
stagger any one who attempts to claim the very same 



TESTING THE FOUNDATIONS. 55 

deliverance from sickness as from sin. Even in the case 
of such mighty sinners as Ahab himself God forgave 
instantly when there was any repentance and prayer, 
until Elijah was astonished and actually disgusted at the 
mercy of the Lord. To the very end, even when the 
mission of the lying spirit had been foretold as a suc- 
cess, Jehovah sent Ahab the truth through Micaiah, 
and gave him abundant warning and opportunity for 
repentance. No man was ever turned away who sought 
in honesty of purpose for forgiveness. There never was 
a single exception. Soul healing, conditioned upon re- 
pentance and faith, was universal ; but bodily healing 
was not always granted, as we have just seen. 

THE PRAYERS OF OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS. 

In direct connection with the cases mentioned in the 
Old Testament, it is well to study the prayers offered 
for healing. Moses prayed for Miriam, Abraham for 
Abimelech, Isaac for Rebekah, Solomon for his people, 
Elisha for the Shunamite's son, Hezekiah for himself 
and for the people ; besides the miracle cases like that 
of Naaman, in which we do not read of any special 
prayer. The language used by all as recorded never 
suggests the thought of a consciousness of any right in 



$6 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

the matter, nor of any general belief that healing was 
certainly for anyone and everyone. On the contrary, 
such expressions as "heal her now, I beseech thee," 
and "Isaac besought the Lord," and " Hezekiah prayed 
and wept sore," all convey the idea that God was asked 
for a special favor ; and the manner of recording the 
answer points plainly to the same conclusion. Of 
course such a case as Naaman's stands upon another 
ground, — that of the peculiar guidance of a specially 
inspired prophet, — but at the same time this proves the 
same thing, — a special favor granted in the sovereign will 
of Jehovah. No other conclusion could be reached by 
an impartial examiner studying the question simply upon 
its merits, with no theory to support. We are there 
fore ready to state briefly and clearly what was the 



OLD TESTAMENT POSITION. 



Beyond further controversy it was emphatically one 
of LAW. The whole spirit of the Pentateuch is a spiri 
of law. The entire dispensation from Moses to Chris 
was a dispensation of law. But in admitting this let it 
be remembered that God gave, through Moses, two 
general kinds of laws, constitutional and statutory. The 
first are founded in the very nature of things, and are 



i 



TESTING THE FOUNDATIONS. 57 

essentially as immutable as that nature. The second 
were ordered for and during a certain time, to guide 
and control matters of detail which had no inherent 
moral or physical principles involved. It is easy to 
see that the Ten Commandments — the essence of the 
moral law" — rest not merely upon the official order 
of Jehovah, but rather upon and in His very nature. 

( They take hold upon the constitution of the world and 
of God's government in the world, and hence they 
have never lost an atom of their force. They cannot 
lose it while God and His universe are as they are. On 
the other hand, the statutes concerning the tabernacle 
and temple worship — the " ceremonial law" — being 
typical foreshadowings of the coming Sacrifice upon 
Calvary, and having been fulfilled there in the person 
and Atonement of Christ, at once lost their force and 
fell into disuse. 

The " law of health " given by Moses comes regu- 
larly under the first class cited, that of " constitutional 
law," for it depends not on the whim of the lawgiver, 
but upon the very nature of things. While the world 
is as it is, order, rest, temperance, good food, proper 
clothing, pure water, sanitation and correct habits will 
and must result in health. Their continuous observance 



5 8 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

is itself the " law of health/' and largely the law of 
healing. Hence it is plain that Ex. xv. 26 and Deut. 
vii. 15, with their contexts, are not a statement of 
God's intention to work miracles for the preservation of 
His people's health, but rather His giving them the IN- 
FORMATION HOW TO KEEP WELL. 

Instead of these texts being a proper foundation for 
a full theory of a present and universal " atonement 
for sickness," they are really a statement of " natural 
law." (All truly " natural law" is God's law, of 
course.) The declaration " I am the Lord that healeth 
thee " ought to be read as meaning, I am the Lord 
who has made a set of principles and conditions, which 
things I am going to tell you in order that you may, 
by strictly observing them, avoid the coming of the 
diseases which cursed Egypt. If you will keep these 
natural laws and principles to be given through Moses, 
you will have health. If you refuse to do so, you shall 
experience all that must follow, as you have seen in 
Egypt. " Healeth thee," how? Not by miracle (ex- 
cept in the special will of the Lord), but by law and 
its strict observance. 

Instead therefore of a promise of a mysterious, di- 
rect, unknown divine power, neutralizing natural cause 






TESTING THE FOUNDATIONS. 59 

and effect, setting aside all consequences of broken law, 
the Old Testament position in this matter of health is 
a most emphatic declaration of the NECESSITY for natu- 
ral law and for the SYSTEMATIC OBSERVANCE of the same. 
Finally, when some one thoughtlessly asks, " But 
was not all that was promised given because of the 
Atonement? " we reply: Of course it was. Everything 
J God has given fallen man is based on the Atonement. 
All the health and all the salvation and all the life 
here or hereafter which man has enjoyed or will enjoy 
since Eden swung to its gates behind our first parents, 
is founded in that mighty and wondrous mystery, the 
Atonement of the Son of God. But, beloved, do not 
forget that the receipt of the benefits of the Atonement 
on our part is subject to the divine arrangement of 
times and seasons and dispensations. We do not get 
everything at once. " Every man in his own order." 
Heaven, the life eternal, the resurrection, the coming 
ages of blessing and peace, the New Jerusalem, the 
many mansions, — all these and more will be ours through 
the Atonement. We must not anticipate the plan of 
God The court of heaven will pay us everything in 
our Father's will to the last item ; but it will be in the 
order and time set by that court. If we attempt to 



6o 



" FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 



discount God's notes before the time set in the condi- 
tions, we need not be surprised to find those notes 
APPARENTLY going to protest. And do not forget that 
because some of us grow alarmed at this, and become 
as we think "very jealous for the Lord," there is not the 
slightest danger that God will attempt to defend His 
credit. As in the days of David, the ark has no need 
of support. It can still stand alone. And it will be 
well to remember that trying to hold it up once proved 
dangerous. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The New Testament Position. 

THE Scriptures we have examined in the preceding 
chapters cover the whole ground of Old Testament 
teaching on the subject. The great " Atonement chap- 
ter," the fifty-third of Isaiah, was purposely not consid- 
ered, because its interpretation by the advocates of 
Faith Healing depends wholly upon New Testament 
utterances ; hence we have properly reserved it until 
now. There is no doubt whatever that the vast scheme 
of the Atonement was very little in the horizon of Old 
Testament vision. God had not revealed it fully. It 
was "the mystery" of which Paul writes, which had 
not been opened to the saints of old. They had been 
granted shadowy hints only of the coming glory of the 
cross. Hence it is evident that Isaiah fifty-third was 
not depended upon for healing by the people of that 
day and generation. As we have seen, their promises 
were promises of law. 

As we open the New Testament we are struck with 
the evident prominence given to miracles of healing. 

61 



62 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

At the very outset Jesus impressed His touch of power 
upon the bodies of the people, and we certainly get no 
hint of a single case being turned away. It would be 
entirely gratuitous to assume that any man ever reached 
the side of Jesus, made a plea for healing and was de- 
nied. " He healed all that were sick " is the repeated 
declaration of the Word. 

Just here the thoughtful mind is struck with a tre- 
mendous contrast. Jesus is certainly in the world to- 
day; He is with us " unto the end of the age." The 
Holy Spirit, whom he sent, showed the same healing 
power after Pentecost that Christ had displayed before, 
and vast multitudes were healed. Again, we never read 
of one who actually asked for healing being denied by 
the apostles. But if this is the same dispensation, 
why such a startling difference? Now multitudes ask, 
pray, beseech ; but few are healed. Thank God, SOME 
ARE HEALED BY THE DIRECT POWER OF GOD IN THIS 
DAY OF GRACE.* The Christian who holds differently 
must throw away all our thousands of recorded " an- 
swers to prayer," or a great part of them. No ; we 
believe that God is still a " prayer-hearing and prayer- 

* See the Appendix. 



THE NEW TESTAMENT POSITION. 63 

f answering God;" but nevertheless the great, the very 
great majority of those who now seek healing by faith 
do not receive the literal answer. They are not healed. 
From the fullest possible acquaintance with the general 
results of all the prominent meetings for healing the 
sick held in the last twenty years, with the very best 
statistics at hand, and a very wide familiarity with after 

I results in cases of claimed healing, we frankly state it 
to be our conviction that only a small per cent of the 
seekers after health are really and positively cured. In 
saying this we know that some enthusiastic teachers 
have at times made extravagant claims : one in particu- 
lar asserting to the writer that out of thousands prayed 
with fully " ninety per cent were healed." We are com- 
pelled to relate, however, that the best accounts from 
good friends of this teacher, and the closest watching 
of his work for years, have forced the belief that such a 
claim was altogether imaginative. We will not press 
this further, as this little book is not written to attack 
any man, but merely to point out error and uphold 
truth. Nothing ever was gained by " claiming too 
much." Such a course always damages the best of 
causes almost more than anything else. We want the 
truth, and nothing but the truth. 



64 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

Facing, therefore, at the very outset of our New 
Testament study, this terrible lack of correspondence 
between then and now, we ask, Does not this alone 
speak strongly of a special dispensation in the sover- 
eign will of God ? The answer that the church has so 
"fallen away" simply will not do. There are many 
and grievous backslidings and errors in the church. 
No doubt of it. But so there were in the days of Eli- 
jah. Poor man ! he thought he stood actually alone. 
Yet when were there more wonderful miracles per- 
formed since the Exodus through any mere man? 
The fact of the matter is, the miracles of the Bible clus- 
ter largely about important epochs when God was de- 
sirous of starting some marked advance in the line of 
His plans, or of bringing about a great revival of pure 
religion. And as the coming of Christ marked the 
greatest advance and the greatest revival, we find the 
stream of miracles widened out to its largest limits 
since man's history began. We must not forget, how- 
ever, that another " epoch " may occur again whenever 
God wills. 

All this being true, we are prepared to inquire 
whether any new law of health was formulated by 
Jesus. He gave a new law of spiritual life, the law of 



THE NEW TESTAMENT POSITION. 65 

love instead of the law of fear ; the law of " may " and 
1 can " instead of the law of " must." He abolished 
penalties in many cases, and closed up forever the 
whole ceremonial law. It is therefore a most perti- 
nent question, Did Christ clearly express any new 
moral law or any new health law? He changed the 
statutory regulations, but did He attempt to alter the 
constitutional enactments ? 

The answer must be, He did not. No new moral 
code was given. True, He removed the death penalty 
1 in the case of adultery, and indicated a change in many 
other cases ; but this was not a change in the moral law 
itself. He did not alter the nature of the offences in 
any of these cases. Not one item in the Ten Com- 
mandments was touched. Taking hold on the princi- 
ples and nature of things, these were simply enforced, 
Christ only giving a better and easier method for keep- 
ing them by the principle of a changed heart, which 
Moses had prophesied, Deut. xxx. 6. 

And so Jesus did not say a word about any new law 
of health. He declared He came to " fulfil the law," 
not to destroy it. How, therefore, could He change 
portions of that law which, as we have seen, were 
grounded in the eternal principles of God? He did not 



66 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

make it healthy to live in African jungles, as our best 
missionaries too well know to-day. That work is re- 
served for His next appearing. The physical world will 
be changed then, not before. During this dispensation 
the kingdom of God is " within yon!' In the next great 
age it will be set up without, in physical things, and the 
world will be another Eden. 

Let us now take up the attempt to found a new 
theory and doctrine based upon Matt. viii. 16, 17. 
" He healed all that were sick : that it might be ful- 
filled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 
Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. " 
In this connection read again the brief summary of the 
different translations of Isaiah fifty-third already given 
in the Century article (page 29). From these it will 
be seen that the claim for a physical reference is put 
forward as of equal strength with the reference to sin, 
and the most important argument certainly is that con- 
tained in the words, " In Matt. viii. 16 we find a com- 
mentary, written by the Holy Spirit, which cannot pos- 
sibly be explained away. . . . Here, then, the Holy 
Ghost informs us that the words of Isaiah did refer to 
the body. But the apostle Peter also quotes these 
same words for the soul, when he says : ' Who his 



THE NEW TESTAMENT POSITION. 67 



own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree/ 
Let him who can, disprove the following : If Peter can 
be relied on for the present day and generation, so can 
Matthew. And if Matthew's quotation has no force to- 
day, then neither has Peter's." 

Again, on page 45, we read, " If the Atonement for 
sickness is not found in this chapter, then the Atone- 
ment for sin cannot be found in it." . 

And this : " Albert Barnes did not seek to prove 
Faith Healing when he said, ' In the fifty-third chapter of 
Isaiah is fully stated the doctrine of the Atonement.'" 
" Xow why did He thus bear our sicknesses? Was 
it for His own chastisement, reproof or correction? Did 
He need to bear the load of disease any more than the 

.load of sin? Then why did He do it? We have the 
fact that He did bear both. Why was it? Every one 
must admit that I Peter ii. 24 and Matt. viii. 17 are 
equally plain and positive, and the candid mind must 

1 be struck with the close analogy between them. But 
Peter gives the reason of the sin-bearing — ' that we, 
being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness;' 
that is, that we, being free from the necessity as well 
as the guilt of sin, should live in soul health. Is it 

I stepping too far beyond the rules of analogy to say that 



68 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

Jesus bore our sicknesses that we, being dead to disease, 
should live unto bodily health? Be cool and deliber- 
ate, and let your logic come to the front. Does not 
Matthew say as much? He tells us that Jesus i healed 
all who were sick ' in order to fulfil the Scripture which 
of all others plainly speaks of the Atonement. Paul 
says, in Eph. v. 23, 'he is the saviour of the body,' 
and we all believe that the complete fulness of salva- 
tion will never be realized until that wonderful day 
when the reunited soul and body shall be glorified with 
Him at His appearing. ,, 

Well, we will " let our logic come to the front " after 
the long time of thirteen years, during which much 
" cool " reflection has been enjoyed. The answer to 
all this is very simple. On the face of it, the state- 
ments about Peter and Matthew being equally reliable 
are perfectly true. Of course they are. One is as 
much inspired as the other. He is foolish indeed who 
attempts to find refuge in a vague brushing aside of 
the words of the Holy Spirit. If they cannot be ex- 
plained, it is because we do not understand them, not 
because of any flaw in them. We are as erring as the 
Word is " men-ant" But when we do get the light 
from the right source, then all is perfectly harmonious. 



THE NEW TESTAMENT POSITION. 6g 

The whole trouble with all the above argument from 
D. H. is that it loses sight of God's times and seasons 
and dispensations in the effort to secure at once all the 
provisions of the " will." Jesus surely did bear our 
diseases just as He bore our sins. So did He bear our 
" sorrows." So did He bear our "temptations," being 
"in all points tempted like as we are." And some day- 
God intends that the full, complete benefits of all this 
I bearing" shall be enjoyed by us. What Christian 
dare say nay to this? But what Christian will dare to 
claim all these benefits now and here in this present 
world ? 

Jesus bore our temptations, but we are told plainly 
enough that we must still be tempted in this state 
of probation. And we are cautioned not to think it 
strange when we are in distress through " manifold 
temptations." 

Jesus Christ bore our " sorrows," for He was " a man 
of sorrows and acquainted with grief; " but do we pre- 
tend that therefore we are delivered from all sorrow in 
this world? We are given ample grace by which to 
endure our sorrows, but there is no present promise of 
exemption. On the other hand we are told that all 
sorts of sorrows and trials will come upon us in this 



70 "FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

life ; we are warned of persecutions, traitorous defec- 
tions, betrayals, disappointments, loss of friends, mis- 
carriage of our plans ; in fact the very scheme of the 
Christian life involves sorrow because of its antagonism 
to all things and persons worldly and of the world. 

Again, Jesus Christ bore our death. He died for us, 
that we may live for Him. But we do not yet receive 
this great boon. Freedom from death has not yet 
reached us. We are delivered " from the fear of death," I 
and the " sting of death " is destroyed ; but the Con- 
queror of death has not yet " put all things under him." 
Potentially He has done so ; but actually the time has 
not become " full." The dying Christian does not " see 
death ; " he sees the Lord who has bought him with His 
own blood. But he dies, nevertheless. Just so the 
fully saved Christian does not see his sorrows and 
trials ; he looks through and over them to the Lord, 
who is "the strength of his life," and sees the victory 
in the name of the King. 

A little reflection will surely convince any one that 
we need to most carefully examine the evidence of 
Scripture and the evidence of experience before we 
undertake to grasp at present any one of the fruits of 
the Atonement. Read what is written, and what " is 



THE NEW TESTAMENT POSITION. 7 1 

written again," and then form solid conclusions. There 

"' is no more ground to claim that because " Jesus bore our 

3 sicknesses," therefore we do not ever have to be sick, 

than there is to conclude that because Jesus " bore our 

sorrows," therefore we never need suffer grief, unless 

we can produce specific Scriptures which teach this 

| special point. The fact that Christ " healed all that 

] were sick" in the days of His early ministry, and the 

fact that this was done to fulfil prophecy, neither of 

these, nor both together, prove the claim unless more 

can be produced. For is it not plain the very same 

can be said of sorrow, trial, and even death itself? Yet 

we must and do suffer all these in this dispensation, no 

matter how lofty may be our spiritual experience. 

In due order, therefore, we come to the inquiry, Did 
Christ distinctly set up the doctrine of a full Atone- 
ment-ground for present exemption from sickness? 
Remember, He knew the law; and He came to " fulfil 
the law." He knew that the Old Testament basis for 
health was simply obedience to law. Yet He never 
hinted at a change in those laws of health, while He 
did enunciate new laws in the spiritual realm. CER- 
tainly it is most reasonable to claim that if 
Jesus intended to alter the basis of physical 



j2 " faith healing" reviewed. 

health from the strict observance of hls own 
"natural laws " to a pure faith in hls work of 
Atonement, He must have plainly declared this 

CHANGE. 

Is it not true that Christ lifted the life for the soul 
from its legal basis of " Do this, and thou shalt live " ? 
And did He not distinctly place it upon the new basis 
of " faith"? Did He not over and over state the new 
belief to be founded in Him alone? "He that be- 
lieveth in me." " Come unto me, and I will give you 
rest." " He that eateth me, even he shall live by me." 
" He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not 
the Son hath not life." How plain these Scriptures 
are ! There could be no mistake. Christ was usher- 
ing in a new order in the ages, the order of " faith" as 
distinct from the " works of the law." Hence we ex- 
pect to find, and in spiritual matters we do find, abun- 
dant reference to and declaration of this great change of 
base. But in physical matters was there not as much 
need for plainness? The physical, like the spiritual, 
had stood for fifteen centuries on a basis of law and 
obedience. If it was to be changed to a faith basis, 
surely there was call for a plain declaration on the part 
of the Founder of the new order of things. What 
could be more evident than this? 






THE NEW TESTAMENT POSITION. 73 

But where do we find such a declaration? Search 
all through the recorded utterances of Christ, but you 
will search in vain. He never made any such a decla- 
ration. He said He " came to seek and save that which 
was lost/' but He did not say He came to heal and ex- 
empt from sickness. He did heal ; ah yes, He healed 
all manner of sickness among the people, but he never 
gave a positive insurance policy to any one. On the 
contrary, his warning, " Go and sin no more, lest a 
worse thing come upon thee," hints strongly at a con- 
tinued obedience to that law which the man had for- 
merly broken. There is no suggestion of a change of 
base as to health, And Christ over and over declared 
the main purpose of His " works" to be to prove to the 
densely clouded minds of His hearers His divine origin 
and mission. 

He commissioned His disciples to heal, saying, " Be- 
hold I give you power to heal and to cast out devils : 
freely ye have received, freely give." To the seventy 
He said, " And as ye go, heal the sick." Does not a 
close study of these words suggest the thought that 
while the preaching of " the gospel of the kingdom" 
was their main business, the healing was an accompani- 
ment, as a blessing and a testimony? But this at once 



74 • "FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

settles the question, and shows that the healing was not 
an integral part of the new faith ; it was incidental, in 
the will of the Lord, and for a special purpose. 

" As ye go, heal." The very words indicate the heal- 
ing to be a subordinate matter to the " going" and the 
" saying." If this is not plain enough, look at the 
words announcing the mission of Christ : " Jesus went 
about preaching the gospel of the kingdom and heal- 
ing the sick." Who that has the least grammatical 
information cannot see that the word " and " clearly 
places the healing not within " the gospel of the king- 
dom," but as a special adjunct of the missionary effort? 
If the healing had been a vital part of the Atonement 
for present acceptance, is it not as clear as the sun in 
the heavens that Jesus would have said, " Preach the 
gospel of the kingdom, preach (or teach) the gospel of 
. health"? But He said " preach the gospel, and (while 
doing that) heal the sick ; for behold I have given you 
power here and now to do so." He did not say He had 
given them power to preach, but He did say He gave 
them power to heal. The only assignable reason for 
this lies in the fact that the preaching or teaching of the 
gospel was for all and free to all, while the " power to 
heal " was always as He saw fit to give it. 






THE NEW * TESTAMENT POSITION. 75 

A business man says to his trusted agent about to 
start on a mission of special importance, " Explain to 
every firm the whole plan of this new business, and as 
you visit them, give them a handsome dinner." Who 
would dream of placing the dinner as an integral part 
of the business plan? The very language employed 
clearly distinguishes between them. One is the matter 
of importance, the other an incidental present. So pre- 
cisely Jesus sent His disciples to preach the gospel of 
salvation, and while they w T ere doing that He chose to 
give them a fund of power to heal, as an evidence 
of His divinity and an example of His mighty mercy. 

In Luke iv. 18, 19, Jesus read from Isaiah lxi. 1, as 
His official announcement of the nature of His mission. 
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the 
Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the 
meek ; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, 
to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of 
the prison doors to them that are bound ; to proclaim 
the acceptable year of the Lord — " Here he stopped, 
for " the day of the vengeance of our God " had not and 
has not yet arrived. In this declaration of His purpose 
there is no plain setting forth of the doctrine of either 
salvation or healing. The language is so figurative 



f6 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

that it might be made to cover all sorts and kinds of 
trouble if it were not for the exposition afforded by 
Christ's other words and by His acts. Reading it in 
the light of these, we see that He came to give imme- 
diate and positive spiritual salvation through simple 
faith in Him. To this all His words and acts testify. 
And we see that He did heal all who came to Him for 
healing, but that He did not preach about and teach this 
healing doctrinally as He did the salvation. Hence the 
conclusion is irresistible that the two were not meant to 
be placed on any equality, and that Jesus never, by 
word or deed, conveyed any such idea. 

Such language as that of Matt. ix. 35 is very plain 
as to the relative place occupied by the healing ministry 
of our Lord. " Jesus went about all the cities and vil- 
lages, teachiug in their synagogues, and preaching the 
gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and 
every disease among the people." Again we say that 
if the healing were an integral part of the " gospel," it 
would not be so mentioned as an ADDITIONAL matter. 
Jesus healed always as an act of mercy, and never 
spoke of it in any other way. He did indeed " preach 
good tidings to the meek," and in a peculiar sense He 
" bound up the broken-hearted." He " proclaimed 



THE NEW TESTAMENT POSITION. J J 

liberty to the captives," and brought the glad news of 
" the opening of the prison doors to those who were 
bound." But every word of this is perfectly applicable 
to the captives of sin, to those bound in iniquity. 
There is no specific foundation here for the theory and 
doctrine of Faith Healing in the Atonement. And when 
we look to the teaching and the practice of Jesus for an 
interpretation of the words of the prophet, we find the 
spiritual work given as the real work, and the healings 
added as acts of mercy, and appealed to as credentials 
of His divinity. 

Just here we will refer to a text very much relied on 
by advocates of Faith Healing in the Atonement. Mark 
xvi. 1 7, "And these signs shall follow them that believe ; 
in my name shall they cast out devils ; they shall speak 
with new tongues ; they shall take up serpents ; and if 
they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them ; they 
shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." 
Notice that this follows the careful direction to " Go into 
all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but 
he that believeth not shall be damned." How is it pos- 
sible to read these words and not see the immense dif- 
ference between the matter of spiritual salvation and 



78 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

healing? The "gospel" is for " every creature," con- 
ditioned sharply on his personal exercise of faith. But 
the healing is classed with immunity against serpents 
and poison, which we simply know was not general and 
for every one, but was a special manifestation of the 
power of God. And lest there should be any possible 
mistake about the matter the very word " signs " is 
plainly used. Here we find Christ, in His latest utter- 
ance, according to Mark, giving the distinction between 
the gospel of salvation and the "signs" of healing. 
What more can be asked by any sensible mind ? 

There is no need to attempt to break the force 
of these words of Mark by claiming that they do not 
belong in the record, as many do. Too many believe 
them to be genuine, and Prof. Rendell Harris's remark- 
able "measurements" of the text seem to prove that 
they belong in it. But nothing can be stronger against 
the claim that the Atonement was designed to give pres- 
ent health to all through faith than these very verses ; 
for in them Christ Himself puts salvation on the ground 
of personal faith, but places healings in the list of 
" signs " following to indorse that gospel in the popu- 
lar mind. As we know from the record in Acts and 
the Epistles that healings did not always follow every- 



THE NEW TESTAMENT POSITION. 79 

where, at all times, we see beyond further controversy 
that Jesus did not intend to teach such a doctrine. 

There is nothing in the New Testament bearing upon 
the doctrine which does not come regularly under what 
we have already considered. We may therefore spare 
further discussion, stopping merely to show in one or 
two notable instances that all may be explained with 
equal readiness. We have already quoted somewhat 
from D. H. on Gal. iii. 13 : " Christ hath redeemed us 
from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us : 
for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a 
tree." 

On pages 19 and 20 we quoted two syllogisms showing 
that sickness was as much in the " curse," and even more 
so than sin. Without further extracts, we will call 
attention to the great fact that the very first and funda- 
mental "curse of the law" was that of death. "Ye 
shall surely die " was and is the quintessence of the 
" curse." If we turn again to Moses in Deut. vii. and 
elsewhere, we find him telling how the people should 
be consumed with fevers and agues, and how they 
should die, if they broke the law of Sinai. Sickness is 
only incipient death. All our physical ailments lead up 
and point to death. He who cannot die cannot be sick. 



80 "FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

There is no dispute there. Hence we see that Gal. iii. 
13 may just as well be urged for present freedom from 
death as from sickness. So may it be urged for free- 
dom from sorrow, grief, trial, suffering of any and all 
kinds, for all come because of broken law and the 
power of sin and death in the world. 

If some one answer that there is a special provision 
made for death in such Scriptures as " It is appointed 
unto man once to die," coupled with the evident apos- 
tolic expectation of death unless Jesus should first ap- 
pear, it is sufficient to read carefully the eighth chapter 
of Romans, from the eighth to the twenty-sixth. Here 
Paul plainly declares that our bodies are still under 
disabilities; that certain infirmities are possible and 
probable; that these are sufficient to cause great aver- 
sion on our part, and to produce earnest longing after 
deliverance ; but that we must " hope " and " wait " till 
the time arrives for " the redemption of the body." 
Thank God, we " shall be delivered from the bondage 
of corruption," but the time is not yet. It belongs to 
the coming age. So we see that we do have special 
Scripture warning us not to attempt to grasp all the 
fruits of the Atonement for the body till the proper 
time has come. The "will" provides for the gift, but 



THE NEW TESTAMENT POSITION. 8 1 

the court is not ready to pay it just now. This is the 
specific theme of the verses in Rom. viii., and a careful 
reading will amply repay any troubled mind. 

One other passage or point needs attention. Rev. 
A. B. Simpson has long been accustomed to lay special 
stress on " the earnest of our inheritance," arguing that 
to be complete it must bear upon the body. He then 
reasons that while it is true we continue to fade and die, 
yet we may receive an impartation of Christ's risen life 
in our bodies, lifting us above all disease and giving us 
strength above the natural. In reply to this it is simply 
necessary to take the plain declaration of the apostle. 
He says distinctly that this " earnest of our inheritance " 
was and is the Pentecostal sealing with the Holy Spirit. 
Writing to the Ephesians, nine years after the events 
recorded in the nineteenth chapter of Acts, he says, 
I In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word 
of truth, the gospel of your salvation : in whom also 
after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy 
Spirit of promise, WHICH IS THE EARNEST OF OUR IN- 
; HERITANCE UNTIL the redemption of the purchased 
1 possession, unto the praise of his glory." (See also 
Rom. viii. 23 ; II Cor. v. 5, i. 22.) 

What could be plainer? The matter of their 



82 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

" salvation " was settled. But after that they had been 
" sealed by the Spirit/' as recorded in Acts, and that 
spiritual " sealing" Paul positively states to be all there 
is of the " earnest " until the next age is ushered in. 



M 



CHAPTER V. 
St. James on Healing by Faith. 

THE special direction to the sick contained in the 
fifth chapter of James is of sufficient importance to 
claim the fullest examination. The extreme plainness 
and simplicity of the language place these words be- 
yond the pale of criticism or objection, except on 
the part of peculiarly narrow minds. Such sincere 
hearts and ample brains as those possessed by the 
great Bengel, the marvellously gifted John Wesley, the 
splendid scholar Dean Alford, and the clear-headed 
Dr. Daniel Steele, besides many others of note, see in 
the words of James v. 14-16 just what they appear to 
: say to any ordinary unprejudiced mind. The para- 
, phrase of Dean Alford is instructive. He says, " Shall 
save . . . here, considering that the forgiveness of sin is 
; afterwards stated separately, SOSEI, can only be used of 
■ corporeal healing, not of the salvation of the soul. . . . 
' The anointing was not a mere human medium of cure, 
but had a sacramental character. (The same words 

83 



84 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

are used of baptism, Matt, xxviii. 19; Acts ii. 38, x. 48, 
xix. 5). . . . The apostle is enforcing the efficacy of 
prayer in afflictions, verse thirteen. Of such efficacy he 
adduces one special instance. In sickness, let the sick 
man inform the elders of the church. Let them, rep- 
resenting the congregation of the faithful, pray over the 
sick man, accompanying that prayer with the symbolic 
and sacramental act of anointing with oil in the name 
of the Lord. Then the prayer of faith shall save (heal) 
the sick man, and the Lord shall bring him up out of 
his sickness ; and even if it were occasioned by some 
sin, that sin shall be forgiven him. Such is the simple 
and undeniable sense of the apostle, arguing for the 
efficacy of prayer. . . . Observe the promises here 
made of recovery and forgiveness are unconditional, as 
in Mark xvi. 18. . . . And pray for one another that 
ye may be healed, in case of sickness as above. The 
context here forbids any wider meaning." 

This exegesis of the great English commentator is at 1 
once consistent and satisfactory to the common sense 
of any reader not loaded down with a theory to sup- 
port. Such men as Bengel and John Wesley state that 
" This single conspicuous gift which Christ committed 
to his apostles (Mark vi. 13) remained in the church 



ST. JAMES ON HEALING BY FAITH. 85 



\ong after the miraculous gifts were withdrawn. Indeed 
it seems to have been designed to remain always, and 
St. James directs the elders, who were the most, if not 
'the only, gifted men, to administer it. This was the 
whole process of physic in the Christian church until 
it was lost through unbelief.* That novel invention 
■ among the Romanists, practised not for cure, but where 
Uife is despaired of, bears no resemblance to this. . . . 
1 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick. From his 
sickness ; and if any sin be the occasion of the sick- 
ness, it shall be forgiven him." — Wesley's Notes on 
5 New Testament. 

Note Mr. Wesley did not say that oil was not in use 

among the Jews and other nations as a medicine. He 

did not touch the question of medicines at all except to 

declare that " among Christians" at that time this sac- 

I ramental or symbolic anointing in the name of the 

Lord, with the " prayer of faith," was the " whole pro- 

1 cess, until it was lost through unbelief." We have 

: shown, in the Century article, the overwhelming testi- 

\ mony to the existence of many hundreds of known 



*That the early Christians used the anointing with oil and the laying on of hands is 
certain ; but that this was always the whole " process of physic," i.e., that they never 
used any of the many medicines current at the time, is nowhere proved. 



86 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

remedies and medicines in the time of Christ. The 
very fact that there were so many in use utterly pre- 
cludes the thought that James directed the use of oil 
medicinally for ANY AND ALL POSSIBLE DISEASES. 
Besides, the vast majority of sound opinion and author- 
ity is cast in the words of Alford quoted above ; the 
anointing was a " symbolic and sacramental act " re- 
ferred to in the very " words used for baptism." Surely 
this is enough to settle the matter finally. 

We are now ready to inquire why, if " the prayer of 
faith shall save the sick/' it happens that so very many 
who have been most devoutly anointed and prayed 
with are not healed. The rather hasty assumption 
that it is always and only because the sick man has not 
the faith is manifestly absurd, for by the express terms 
of the text he does not do the praying. Besides there 
are many cases where the invalid is insane, or delirious, 
or is a child, and cannot exercise faith ; but the results 
in such cases average just about the same. Some are 
healed, and many are not. Again, to assume that the 
healing is denied because of sin in the patient is met 
by the express declaration that such sin shall be for- 
given ; and too many cases occur of devout, consecrated 
Christians whose sincerity cannot be questioned for a 



ST. JAMES ON HEALING BY FAITH. 87 

moment. When Dr. Cullis and, afterwards, when Rev. 
A. B. Simpson and Rev. John A. Dowie prayed with 
Uhe writer, there was just one thought in his mind, the 
glory of God in the will of God ; yet the full healing 
did not come. 

Granting the force and inspiration of the passage, 
there is just one explanation of the many failures. 
The "prayer of faith" is not prayed. If it were, we 
have the absolute assurance it " SHALL save the sick." 
But the sick are not saved. Therefore the " prayer of 
faith " was not offered. The elders greatly desired to 
pray in faith, but notwithstanding what James calls the 
" prayer of faith " certainly was not prayed, or the re- 
covery must have followed. This is so simple that we 
will not spend further time upon it. 

THE PRAYER OF FAITH. 

What then is the "prayer of faith"? Does the Bible 
tell us ? For if it does, that will explain all the difficulty. 
Most generally the full context is the best commentary, 
and in this instance it is notably true. James, trans- 
lated correctly, fully defines what he means ; and that 
definition, thoroughly grasped, sets at rest the whole 
matter, and satisfies every believing heart. 



88 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

Following verses fourteen and fifteen James gives an- 
other direction, " Confess your faults one to another, and 
pray one for another, that ye may be healed." Then fol- 
lows the plain definition of the kind of prayer necessary 
for the healing. 

"The earnest, inwrought prayer of a right- 
eous MAN AVAILETFI MUCH." 

As we have it in the Authorized version the word 
" effectual " is not very clear. And yet it may be said 
that of course an "effectual" prayer must "avail." 
Such a translation, however, is really tautological. The 
strict sense of the Greek word is rather " inwrought," or 
" inworking," or " inenergized." Like a flash the whole 
thing is made clear. This "prayer of faith" is "in- 
wrought" by the Holy Spirit in His special office of 
" making intercession for us " and teaching us how to 
pray. And when He inspires or inworks the prayer, of 
course it is " effectual ; "of course it" avails," and the sick 
man is healed. On page 1 66 of D. H. we read these 
significant words, " Any one may be healed who is 
drawn of the Spirit to seek healing." How true ! We 
may be drawn of our own desire to be free from suffer- 
ing, or drawn by a mistaken notion of the purpose of 
God. In such cases the "prayer of faith" simply 






ST. JAMES OX HEALING BY FAITH. 89 

cannot be offered. It is purely will power to attempt to 
" act faith " and make believe we are healed. It is all 
a mistake. God holds the "prayer of faith " in His own 
keeping, and when He "inworks" it, the result, the 
positive result, certainly comes. 

When Mr. Dowie laid hands on the writer and prayed 
for his complete healing from all weakness in 1890, he 
was, by his own statement, specially anxious that heal- 
ing should follow. He spoke of the wide publicity 
given to the " Atonement for Sin and Sickness/' and of 
the many who had prayed for the author since his break- 
down in 1887, and declared his special interest in his 
recovery. When the time for the prayer came, both 
men concentrated every faculty of mind and heart on 
the one point — that of faith in the promise as we both 
understood it. There was absolutely nothing in the 
way, so far as our personal knowledge extended. It 
would be precisely as reasonable for the writer to claim 
that something was wrong with Mr. Dowie, as for Mr. 
Dowie to say there was something wrong with the 
writer. Both were as honest as the sunlight, and as 
sincere as possible. The writer felt that a crisis had 
been reached, and called upon God with all his soul, at 
the same time endeavoring to "take hold by faith " with 
his full strength. 



go " FAITH HEALING'' REVIEWED. 

But all the time the prayer was being uttered the 
writer felt a sense of inability to touch something, just 
as if one tries to push an electric bell and is conscious 
that it does not quite make the connection, There 
was no sense of any possible fault, but purely of down- 
right inability. 

When the prayer was ended, Mr, Dowie stepped 
back, and with a shake of the head remarked, " Well, 
brother, I felt the power of God. And I am sure, if 
you hold on, the answer must come." 

Why did he say that? We verily believe that it was 
the instinctive effort of the theory-controlled mind to 
ward off a sense of failure. It was the same principle 
which impels a boy to whistle in the dark to keep his 
courage up. He did NOT "feel the power of God," at 
least in the sense of healing power. He wanted to feel 
it, and the theory demanded that he should feel it; 
hence his instinctive declaration burst forth. But who 
will question that if the healing power had been really 
vouchsafed, as it was when Dr. Cullis prayed for my 
heart, the strength would have come? 

The simple solution is that Mr. Dowie did NOT pray 
"the prayer of faith." Neither did Dr. Cullis, Mr. 
Simpson, or any other who ever prayed for my 



ST. JAMES ON HEALING BY FAITH. 9 1 

complete strength to be given. If they had, beyond any 
controversy I would have been healed, for "the prayer 
of faith SHALL SAVE the sick." That is all there is to 
it. If God sends the faith, there is a case of genuine 
healing. If He does not send it, the sickness con- 
tinues. And no Christian should allow the 

ADVERSARY TO WHIP HIM BECAUSE HE IS NOT HEALED, 
WHEX HE IS CONSCIOUS OF A PERFECT ACQUIESCENCE 
IN THE WILL OF GOD. 

As a positive clincher to this argument, turn to the 
twelfth chapter of I Corinthians. Here Paul distinctly in- 
forms us that in order to prevent our " ignorance " he 
writes of the " gifts of the Spirit." Over and over he as- 
sures us that there " are diversities of gifts, but the same 
Spirit." The Holy Ghost is given inwardly to all, but 
the Holy Ghost imparts His gifts " as he will." He then 
states that "to one is given by the Spirit the word of 
wisdom ; to another the word of knowledge by the same 
Spirit; to another FAITH by the same Spirit; to another 
the GIFTS OF HEALING by the same Spirit," etc. 

Now, if some will claim that the " gifts of healing " 
only refer to the residence in some chosen elders of the 
gift to pray effectually with others, it is sufficient to 
reply that even this cannot be understood as always 



92 "FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

operative in every case they may desire to heal, else 
why did not Paul heal Trophimus and Timothy? And 
the previous declaration that " faith " is given to one 
and not to another, is overwhelmingly conclusive. How 
can the " prayer of faith " be prayed at will, when it is 
distinctly affirmed by the apostle that the Spirit gives 
" faith " only to whom He chooses?* For does not 
the apostle add, " But all these worketh that one and 
the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally AS 
HE will" ? Here, then, we see that the " gifts of heal- 
ing" and the "faith" through which such gifts can 
operate or be received, are equally under the special 
control of the Holy Spirit, and are given to one and not 
to another in the sovereign will of God. 

But this forever settles adversely the claim that the 
Atonement offers health to all, precisely as it offers sal- 
vation from sin ; for we all know and believe that there is 
no such arbitrary election in the matter of soul saving. 
" God would have all men to be saved and to come unto 
a knowledge of the truth." " Whosoever will, let him 
come and take of the water of life freely." There is no 
equality between the two in this dispensation. The one 

* Of course this " faith " is that for special wonderful results, not faith for salvation 
from sin ; that is free to all. 



ST. JAMES ON HEALING BY FAITH. 93 

is free to all, and offered to all ; but the other is for 
those whom God chooses, and is not offered to all until 
the next age is ushered in. For that great consumma- 
tion we, with the apostle and all nature, " do groan, 
and wait in hope." Meanwhile we do well to seek heal- 
ing, scripturally and reverently, as we seek any other 
honest desire ; and if God will, we shall be led of the 
Spirit to pray in the Spirit, and the healing will be given 
in the overflowing mercy of the Lord. But if God does 
not see fit to grant the prayer, there is not the slightest 
wrong in using any of the many alleviative or curative 
means created by the Maker of the universe, and work- 
ing according to His great laws in nature. Very, very 
often, though God does not choose to heal directly as 
a miraculous or unusual putting forth of His power, He 
does choose to restore us through His laws of health and 
remedy in the more usual manner of His working. 
And we, as obedient children, must be ready and 
willing for either. 

Dr. Daniel Steele well makes the point of the differ- 
ence between the " grace of faith," which is given to all, 
offered to all, and hence obligatory upon all who have 
any knowledge of Christ, and the " gift of faith," which 
is only bestowed upon those whom the Spirit selects, 



94 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

and at such times as He chooses. The first, the " grace 
of faith," is spoken of in such texts as Eph. iv. 7, "But 
unto every one of us is given faith according to the 
measure of the gift of Christ, ,, and Rom. xii. 3, "Ac- 
cording as God hath dealt to every man the measure of 
faith. " The second, the " gift of faith," is referred to 
in I Cor. xii. 9-1 1, "To another faith by the same 
Spirit; ... to every man severally as he will. " The 
latter may be possessed coetaneously with a very low 
spiritual state. Paul declares a man may " remove 
mountains," but because of a lack of charity he " is 
nothing." John Wesley said, " Many have had the gift 
of faith who thereby cast out devils, and yet at the last 
have their portion with them." It is well to remember 
the warning of Christ that some would claim to have 
wrought miracles in His name, only to receive the re- 
ply, "I never knew you." 

In this connection we take a glance at the eleventh 
of Hebrews, which has been called the "Westminster 
Abbey of the Bible." A recent writer in the Christian 
Alliance cites this chapter to prove the extreme posi- 
tion with regard to Faith Healing. He says that the 
devil tempted him by reminding him that " these all 
died," and that therefore he should not be surprised if 



ST. JAMES ON HEALING BY FAITH. 95 

he died instead of recovering. But he thinks the Holy 
Spirit suggested that the additional words, " in faith," 
" these all died in faith," show that the theory is sound. 
He even goes so far as to say that "If I must die it 
shall be in faith, trusting Christ too much, not out of 
faith, trusting him too little." He then adds, "If with 
faith in Christ, my healer, I die,* I shall only go the 
more directly to the Christ of faith, and so be ever with 
the Lord." 

It is with great tenderness that the writer says to all 
who fall into the snare of such false reasoning, Beware 
of " trusting Christ too much," fully as much as of 
" trusting Him too little." Remember that Satan first 
tempted Jesus to trust God too little ; that is, to hold 
back from believing all God said. " If thou be the 
Son of God." He was repelled with the Word. Re- 
turning to the attack, the second temptation was to 
" trust too much." " Cast thyself down from hence ; 
for it is written, He shall give his angels charge over 
thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest 
thou dash thy foot against a stone." But once more 
he was repelled with " Again it is written." 

* How can a Christian who has " faith in Christ, the healer," happen to die? If the 
"faith'' is genuine, it of course brings its literal answer. If it is not genuine, it is no 
faith at all. 



96 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

Cannot our readers see that the " trusting too much" 
is the sin, or the failure of " presumption " ? It is going 
too far, always the second temptation to the faithful 
soul. We are no better than our Master, and we may 
expect that the devil has no stronger or more cunningly 
devised temptations than he had in the Jordan wilder- 
ness. 

But a common-sense glance at the reasoning quoted 
shows its inherent absurdity. The " faith " is first 
clearly that the sufferer shall recover. What else could 
it be? The sick man has " faith " for healing in the 
" Healer/' How foolish, then, to whirl right about and 
make the " faith " stand simply for a blind, indefinite 
something — a reversal of the " healing," a dying in- 
stead. And the assertion that, if he died thus " trust- 
ing," he would go the " more directly to Christ " implies 
of course that all who do not so die are to that extent 
condemned and debarred. It is not necessary to follow 
this farther, as its own foolishness defeats it. 

The chapter itself, Heb. xi., is of all others in the 
New Testament perhaps best calculated to illustrate that 
the " gift, of faith " belongs distinctly to the Spirit, and 
is not open for all and to all at their pleasure, no 
matter how consecrated they are. " These all died in 



ST. JAMES ON HEALING BY FAITH. 9/ 

faith." True. But they did die ; they were not de- 
livered from dying; they were not " healed by faith," 
except in a few notable instances. Sarah was healed 
of barrenness at an advanced age, in the special will of 
the Lord. And some " dead were raised to life." All 
the others mentioned were put to death or died ; they 
were not delivered at all. The "in faith," therefore, 
does not mean at all what this mistaken writer indi- 
cates, but simply means that all these, no matter how 
severe their trials, held to their faith in God as God and 
as their Ruler and King. They did not lose their spirit- 
ual faith in God, though put to such extraordinary tests. 
Like Job, they trusted though actually slain. But this 
does not even hint at a relaxing all effort, a refusing to 
touch or use all possible means for their preservation. 
On the contrary the very words " they wandered about 
in sheepskins," etc., indicate that they ran away from 
their tormentors and persecutors. They were hunted 
like dogs or wild animals, but they fled when they 
clearly could do so. They did all possible to help 
themselves. They used all the " dens and caves in 
the earth " that were handy. The whole chapter sets 
before us most distinctly that God selects some for His 
glory, to whom at certain times He commits the "gift 



98 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

of Faith " for positive deliverance or with which to work 
some miracle. At such times those concerned are actu- 
ally and positively delivered, but at other times the physi- 
cal deliverance is withheld, while always, in either case, it 
is the Christian's duty and privilege to be fully " in faith." 
He who attempts to " limit the Holy One of Israel" 
to any one line of action, whether in matters of " guid- 
ance " or salvation or healing, falls into an old error, 
and will surely be put to confusion. To say that God 
must heal by direct faith is as foolish as to say, with 
many, that He does not and will not heal by faith in 
these days. 

NEW TESTAMENT POSITION. 

The position of the New Testament concerning heal- 
ing or health is certainly that of perfectly sustaining the 
Old Testament in its laws of health, seeing that those 
were laws of the constitution or nature of things, and re- 
membering that Jesus came not to set aside the law, but 
to carry it out to the end. Note Jesus never said He 
HAD fulfilled all the law so that none of it was hence- 
forth binding. He spoke of much of the law as still 
operative, and said of that, " not one jot or one tittle 
shall pass from the law TILL all be fulfilled." Mani- 



ST. JAMES ON HEALING BY FAITH. 99 

festly the common laws of nature affecting animal 
health were not repealed in the slightest degree, and 
those laws hold to-day. The Old Testament position of 
strict obedience to the laws of health is therefore fully 
sustained by the New Testament, and all ordinary results 
follow as before. 

But we see that the New Testament enunciates the 
principle of special faith in God for many things which 
do not come generally under the common law. " Have 
faith in God," said Jesus (Mark xi. 22), and in that faith 
we are told of wonders to be performed. Hence we find 
some warrant for the miraculous in a larger degree than 
in the dispensation of law under Moses. A careful ex- 
amination of all the utterances and acts of Christ and His 
apostles, however, discloses the fact that these special 
manifestations of divine power, while falling distinctly 
under the newly stated law of " faith," are yet always 
directly under the guidance of the Spirit, and hence not 
open and free to all men who choose to merely believe. 

Combining these facts, and comparing the statement of 
the Old Testament position on page 56, we see that the 
two fully agree so far as all ordinary health is concerned, 
and that no man has the slightest right to disregard the 
laws of health to-day because of the gospel; that the 



IOO " FAITH HEALING REVIEWED. 

gospel gives no man the warrant for living in unhealthy 
climates, for overworking, for eating forbidden food, 
for unduly exposing himself to the weather, or for doing 
any of the things which, by their very nature, violate 
the constitutional principles of health stated by Moses. 
The gospel promises to no modern missionary exemp- 
tion from fever in African jungles, nor does it assure any 
evangelist or preacher that he may preach twice or three 
times a day in badly ventilated halls for any length of 
time without injury. He who does any of these things 
does them at his own risk, subject to the special will of 
God. If he escapes the fever in Africa, as in the case 
of Bishop Taylor, it is most likely because of a splendid 
heredity and the faithful observance of the most minute 
precautions as to eating, exercise and exposure, just as 
that Pauline man of God declares to be the reason for 
his phenomenal health. God may and sometimes un- 
doubtedly does heal or prevent African fever in answer 
to " the prayer of faith, " but ordinarily the laws of hered- 
ity and of health take their course. 

The New Testament does emphasize the healing 
power of God ; it does narrate cases of healing in plenty, 
generally as "signs following" the preaching of the gos- 
pel ; and it dees give specific directions to the sick how 



ST. JAMES ON HEALING BY FAITH. 10 1 

to act (toward God) in all instances. It does hold out 
the HOPE of cure, for " any sick among you " is told to 
" call for the elders," who in turn are directed to pray 
for him with the symbolic " anointing in the name of 
the Lord." But when this is done, the case is 
LEFT WITH GOD. If the " prayer of faith " has been 
offered, the result is sure. There is no statement that 
the cure will be directly instantaneous and miraculous ; 
but there will be a cure. Not half a cure, but a cure. 
If the " faith " is not given or "inwrought" by the Holy 
Spirit, no cure will follow.* In either case — cure or no 
cure — there is nothing said either for or against the use 
of legitimate means. At least there is no doctrinal state- 
ment on this point. We must study the practical illus- 
tration afforded by the cases given and the experience 
of the best Christians to settle that matter. 

* Of course it is only necessary to remind the reader of the occasional cures or 
partial cures brought about by the power of the imagination. The medical press 
supplies many such instances. 



CHAPTER VI. 
Cases of New Testament Examined. 

A CAREFUL study of the recorded healings in the 
New Testament reveals several very important facts. 

1. Jesus began His ministry with many miracles of 
healing. It is morally certain that He was not asked 
in any way to heal the first few cases. He simply did 
so of His own motion. Nobody knew He could heal 
until they saw Him actually do it. That He healed to 
establish His authority is unquestionable : His own ref- 
erences to the testimony of His works is conclusive here. 

2. Jesus healed many cases without the slightest 
call for personal faith on their part. A sick man ly- 
ing helpless, and not knowing Christ, is suddenly com- 
manded to arise, the command carrying with it such 
an inspiration that he instantly obeys, and is perfectly 
healed. Simon's mother-in-law is " taken by the hand 
and lifted up." No command even is recorded. De- 
moniacs who asked nothing were delivered at a word 
from His mouth. 



CASES OF NEW TESTAMENT EXAMINED. 103 

3. Some were healed at the request of their friends 
and because of their friends' faith, as the " man borne 
of four " and the centurion's servant. 

4. Of some Christ clearly required faith. " Believ- 
est thou that I am able to do this?" and " According 
to thy faith be it unto thee/' are sufficient to establish 
this point. 

5. There is no instance recorded of any single re- 
quest for healing being refused. He healed all who 
came and asked for healing. 

6. There were times and places where more heal- 
ings occurred than at others.* In some instances Jesus 
declared that lack of faith was the reason ; that is, lack 
of faith in Him as the Messiah and teacher. 

7. Not all these cases of disease were afflicted be- 
cause of any sin. This the disciples, in common with 
their nation, rather believed to be true. Any special 
illness pointed to some sin on the part of the individual 
first ; or if that looked unlikely, as in the case of a con- 
genital trouble, the law of heredity pointed in their 

* That there was the element of divine selection in the matter who can doubt. " I 
am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel," said Jesus. It is true that 
" as many as touched were made perfectly whole; " but think of the thousands in Israel 
who could not get to Him to touch at all, and think of the millions elsewhere on earth to 
whom He did not appear. 



104 "FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

minds to a sin of the parents. Just as Job's friends 
were sure he must have greatly sinned in order to be 
so greatly afflicted, the disciples and Jews generally 
thought that the man born blind was so sent into the 
world either because of his parents' sin or on account 
of the sins he would commit in the future. But this 
point Jesus forever settled. " Neither did this man sin, 
nor his parents, but that the works of God should be 
manifested in him." Beyond all controversy, therefore, 
all sickness in this dispensation is not on account of sin 
in the individual. It may be a dispensation of the 
sovereign will of God. 

On this point, stop for a moment and think of those 
poor specimens of humanity who come into the world 
crippled out of all form and shape ; of those who are 
born idiots, never to know the clear light of reason, and 
of all the terrible list of congenital diseases transmitted 
from parents to children. Many of them are beyond 
all power of healing, and never are healed. Who ever 
saw or heard of a little broken-backed cripple, three 
feet high, with misshapen head set between humped 
shoulders, being suddenly taken and stretched up to 
the full and perfect stature of a man? Why has God 
not chosen to divide such monstrosities as the " New 






CASES OF NEW TESTAMENT EXAMINED. 105 

Siamese Twins," a picture of whom is before us, show- 
ing the children united from umbilicus to middle of 
sternum. Why, it is evident that such a case would have 
caused the profoundest sensation at any time ; but even 
in the healings of our Lord there is no clear record of 
any such. Neither is there a plain statement that 
Christ or an apostle ever restored a limb that was wholly 
lost. These facts point most overwhelmingly to the 
special will of the Lord as the true ground for healing 
in all cases. 

8. Under the apostles not all who were sick were 
healed. True we do not read of any one asking them 
for healing and being refused ; but we do read of some 
Christians who were not immediately healed, or who 
had troubles that were not removed at all. Trophimus 
was " left " by the apostle Paul " sick." Why did he 
not heal him and take him along? No reason can be 
assigned except that the Lord evidently intended other- 
wise ; that is, that God specially controls such cases. 
Epaphroditus was very ill from overwork, but God " had 
mercy on him " and on Paul, and finally answered 
prayer for his recovery. But there is no evidence of 
any miraculous, sudden cure. It was an " answer to 
prayer." 



106 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

Timothy's case has not been treated fairly in D. H. 
or any similar work. There it is, the favorite " son " 
of the great apostle, full of good teaching from his 
childhood, blessed with a splendid spiritual heredity 
from his mother and grandmother, specially used of 
God and the chosen companion of Paul. Yet he was 
partly an invalid. And he was " often " afflicted. To 
suppose that Paul did not anoint or lay hands upon 
him and pray for his strengthening and healing, is to 
suppose the apostle was not a man at all. He who 
sent handkerchiefs to the sick at a distance, could he 
not heal his own " son in the gospel " ? Evidently he 
could not and did not. His advice to Timothy to use 
light wine " for his stomach's sake and his frequent 
sicknesses " (or infirmities, or weaknesses, as it may be 
translated) is conclusive evidence that the situation 
was accepted by the apostle. Had there been any 
such thing as an " Atonement right " in the matter, 
Paul COULD NOT have accepted it. Who has any busi- 
ness to neglect any portion of the present fruits of the 
Atonement? It is our duty to preach and teach all the 
benefits of that sacrifice that can be received now and 
here. We are not the judges of how much we may 
accept. 



CASES OF NEW TESTAMENT EXAMINED. IO/ 

9. All the cases recorded were cases of full and 
complete healing. They " were made perfectly whole." 

A review of these nine points teaches us that the 
standing of healing in the New Testament is very dif- 
ferent from that of sin. For the forgiveness of the lat- 
ter personal faith is always a necessity. God does not 
thrust salvation upon any man, but He does so some- 
times heal. The late John Cookman often said, " I 
was not asking for healing, but God put it upon me 
when the doctors had all given me up to die and gone 
home. God spoke to me and I was healed/' This 
healing was practically instantaneous, and Mr. Cookman 
lived to do the best work of his life for several years. 
But afterwards he sought in vain for a similar deliver- 
ance in other troubles. 

While Jesus never refused to heal, Paul did not 
always succeed with his own friends, to say nothing of 
his own famous " thorn." The latter case we have 
avoided because of the difficulty in proving to any one's 
satisfaction just whether the thorn was a sickness or not. 
The extreme claim that it was healed or removed can- 
not well be demonstrated in any case, so that may be 
set aside for those instances where we are in no doubt 
at all. 



IOS " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

From all these we see that the New Testament cases 
amply carry out the doctrinal teaching derived from 
our study of the evangelists and the epistles. And in 
view of the plain direction of James to the sick, and his 
definition of the " prayer of faith," coupled with Paul's 
declarations concerning the " gifts of the Spirit," we see 
that the cases of Trophimus, Epaphroditus and Timothy 
take their place under the general law, " as he will." 
Job in the Old Testament and Timothy in the New 
stand as monumental illustrations of the great fact that 
while the Atonement has purchased bodily deliverance 
for believers, for the present we live physically under 
the ordinary law of God for health, and must relegate 
the matter of special healing or affliction to the realm 
of the supreme will of our Lord. 



CHAPTER VII. 
The Practical Position. 

TO Dr. Charles Cullis undoubtedly belongs the dis- 
tinction of having done more than any other man 
to bring healing by faith to the attention of the church in 
the last century. His little book called " Faith Cures " 
gives a brief sketch of how his mind was drawn to the 
promise in James, and how he waited for a case in 
which the patient would accept the direction as from 
God. Such a case presented itself soon. A lady was 
suffering with an internal tumor, from which no relief 
appeared except by the knife, and that looked danger- 
ous. He read the verses in James to her, she con- 
sented, he prayed, anointing her with oil in the name 
of the Lord, and the lady was speedily healed. She 
lives to-day and is at the head of a missionary training 
college in Brooklyn. 

Dr. Cullis often spoke confidentially and freely to the 
writer in his home in Somerset Street and afterwards in 
Newbury Street, Boston, on this subject. He said in 

109 



IIO " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

effect: " The promise is plain. ' Let any sick among 
you ' — that is, among Christians — ' call for the elders.' 
Now I am sure I am an elder. If called, I must obey 
the direction, ' Let them pray, anointing with oil in the 
name of the Lord/ That is my business. Then the 
matter is in the Lord's hands, and He is responsible. 
' The prayer of faith shall save the sick.' I never doubt 
it." The doctor specially disclaimed the possession of 
any " gifts of healing." Further, he often said, " Many 
times when I seem to feel the greatest assurance, the 
case is not healed at all ; and, on the other hand, fre- 
quently when I am as dead and lifeless as possible, the 
most remarkable healings occur." 

Dr. Cullis was a physician. He gave and used medi- 
cines, recognizing that the ordinary was to be met by 
the ordinary. Taking a little bottle from his pocket, 
he said, "Now I know that this will stop my headache 
in a few minutes. Knowing that, I think it would be 
wrong to trouble the Lord about it, or expect Him to 
effect the cure in any unusual way." 

When the writer first become aware of the doctor's 
suffering with heart disease, he was startled at Intervale, 
N. H., one bright afternoon, by the request, " Say, Cap- 
tain, I wish you would come in the chapel and pray 
with me for my heart. 



THE PRACTICAL POSITION. Ill 

" Oh yes, didn't you know? I have it bad, the worst 
kind, angina pectoris. Dr. Bell says there is no 
earthly hope. Some nights I think I cannot live till 
morning." 

Reverently we kneeled, and the prayer was offered, 
with the anointing. Rising from our knees, the doctor 
in his characteristic way, after a half-breathed " Praise 
the Lord ! " suddenly turned, and said, with his eyes 
twinkling, "See here! You know I have prayed with 
thousands and thousands of people, and, as you know, 
many hundreds have been wonderfully healed. But I 
have been prayed with in London, and at Mannedorf, 
and by a lot of you here in America, but (here the 
merry smile shone in his mirthful eyes) none of you 
fellows do me one bit of good. Now what's the mat- 
ter? " 

Of course we could not tell, and the blessed man's 
hearty " Well, hallelujah anyhow! it's all right" left 
the matter in God's hands, where it belonged. His 
malady marched on, and without a shadow on his heart, 
his last audible word a " Hallelujah," Charles Cullis 
passed over to the God in whose word he so delighted 
to trust. HE " DIED IN FAITH." 

Dr. Cullis believed in setting broken bones, and in 



112 "FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

taking medicines except where faith was perfectly free 
and spontaneous, notably in " incurable cases." 

It will be seen therefore that the PRACTICAL position 
occupied by Dr. Cullis was that of special healing in 
the will of the Lord. This was what his practice actu- 
ally amounted to. He never was given to preaching 
the matter doctrinally, but urged all to come to God in 
faith and be guided by the Spirit. 

Rev. A. B. Simpson has long PRACTICALLY occupied 
the same position. Whiie he has always preached 
healing from a doctrinal standpoint, yet his utterances 
and his consideration of the subject have moderated 
greatly from his earlier deliverances. He never gave 
the matter a place equal with soul salvation, but it was 
pressed to a considerable extent. The experience of 
his workers and himself has been that sickness may 
come unexpectedly, and often take its full course, medi- 
cine or no medicine, no matter how much they pray. 
At other times marked and quite' abrupt healings have 
occurred. 

Years ago it was quite apparent that Mr. Simpson's 
eyes were failing as he grew older. At that time he 
remarked that he had often thought he must set apart 
a special time for prayer for his sight. But the ordi- 
nary and natural effect went steadily on. 






THE PRACTICAL POSITION. 113 



A few years ago Mr. Simpson was attacked with the 
grippe, and suffered greatly, though refusing to give up 
and go to bed. The disease ran a reasonable course, 
and then abated. There was no phenomenal healing. 
Of course prayer was offered by many, and of course it 
is Christian and just to claim an "answer," but nothing 
! more. This has been the experience of nearly every 
one in that work. But some for whom great interces- 
sion was made have been taken in the prime of life. 
Of course Mr. Simpson has always allowed that one's 
time may come, and the faith not be given, but the 
point here is that practically the position has been one 
of special answers in the will of God, not a broad 
Atonement for all at any time. 

Nothing has so operated to force this upon the 
I Christian Alliance " and its founder as the failure of 
the holiest missionaries to withstand the African fever 
purely by faith. Many went out a few years ago, pro- 
testing with dear Charlie Miller (of the Bishop Taylor 
,Mission) they were "living in the ninety-first Psalm, 
•arid the Lord would keep them." But a large number 
I passed away, one after another ; and all were finally 
j driven to see that natural law, given and made by God, 
operates to-day just as it ever did. Most of the 



114 "FAITH HEALING REVIEWED. 

missionaries have used quinine and other remedies freely, 
and all have been and are instructed to observe most 
carefully the rules of the climate for rest and food and 
clothing. 

Possibly the Christian Alliance for a time lost more 
missionaries in proportion to the whole number than 
some of the regular boards, it may be because this very 
faith impelled many weak and frail persons to offer to 
go, and constrained the directory to accept their ser- 
vices. But some time ago it was seen that this would 
not do, and the board of managers have insisted on 
some sort of physical qualifications for the work. The 
phenomenal missionary collections taken by the Alliance 
last year (some $225,000.00 in two collections at Old Or- 
chard and New York) show that the people are deeply 
stirred to give through this particular channel ; and it 
is a matter for thankfulness that the item in the Alliance 
creed concerning healing is getting upon a more solid 
and sure foundation. It is the foundation of the sover- 
eign will of God and the obedience to all His laws as 
far as possible. This is clearly shown by the special 
call issued at the Christian Alliance convention held in 
October, 1892, "praying for a special outpouring of the 
Spirit in connection with acquiring foreign languages 



THE PRACTICAL POSITION. IIS 

and resisting the climatic difficulties of Africa, India 
.and China!' 

Dr. A. J. Gordon, that almost unmatched example of 
the union in one man of deepest spirituality with broad- 
est mental powers and strongest physical parts, stood 
^PRACTICALLY on this same foundation. He anointed 
and prayed with many. Some were healed. A case 
of restoration when dying with consumption, and almost 
in articulo mortis* is given in the admirable study 
-on his life by his son, Ernest Gordon (a book which 
^should be in the library of every minister, and be read 
by every Christian). Dr. Gordon gave to the writer 
his confidence on this subject in one of the all too few 
brotherly conferences we enjoyed together in Boston. 
One or two cases he related in his own experience, 
where he prayed with the sick, were certainly miracles 
of healing, or nothing. But Dr. Gordon saw that the 
divine sovereignty stood over all, and that we can only 
I pray in the will of God. 

Mrs. Carrie Judd Montgomery, whose remarkable 

J healing occurred just about the time Dr. Cullis prayed 

with the writer, is a well-known and valued friend, as is 

her devout and earnest husband, George Montgomery 

* See Appendix to this book. 



Il6 "FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

of Beulah, Cal. Mrs. Montgomery is a persistent 
teacher of Faith Healing, and does not like any one to 
attempt much modification of the theory. But from 
the most positive knowledge the writer declares that 
PRACTICALLY, after all is said and done, there is no real 
difference in her case. She prays with many. Some 
are healed. Many are not. Some of her own friends 
have passed away after long seasons of most earnest 
prayer, although quite young. Somehow they " could 
not take hold." But that simply means, as we have 
seen, that the faith was not " inwrought." The Lord 
willed otherwise. Mr. Montgomery frankly acknowl- 
edges that he is not perfectly well, and at times he is 
severely troubled. He " holds on " as consistently and 
persistently as any one we ever knew (except poor 
Charlie Miller), but the complete healing does not come. 
The practical conclusion must be that it is not God's 
will. His wife is nearsighted and has worn glasses 
from childhood. The Montgomerys are among the 
most prominent teachers of healing on the Pacific 
coast, and are noted for their beneficent gifts and good 
works. 

Mrs. Baxter of London, who has been long identified 
with the Faith Healing teaching at Bethshan, years ago 



THE PRACTICAL POSITION. 11/ 

oecame persuaded that the Atonement theory required 
t her to " trust God for her eyes." Accordingly she went 
rrthrough a season of special consecration and prayer, and 
in order to " act faith," laid aside her glasses. For a 
Jong time she held on, but no improvement in sight was 
granted ; and at last she declares that " The Lord said 
to me, ' My child, I did not tell you to take off those 
^glasses. You have gone ahead of the Spirit in this 
matter. You must await my time and guidance.' " At 
once she put them on, and has continued to wear them. 
This case has many parallels, and is a thorough illustra- 
tion of the position taken in this present book, that 
HEALING BY FAITH IN THIS AGE IS A MATTER OF SPE- 
CIAL FAVOR FROM GOD, AND IS ALWAYS PECULIARLY 
UNDER THE GUIDANCE AND LEADING OF THE HOLY 
SPIRIT. In very many cases it is certain that no heal- 
ing is granted, no matter how consecrated the person 
may be. 

Rev. John Alexander Dowie is a ''stalwart." No 

more aggressive teacher of the Atonement theory has 

i ever appeared. To this he devotes the major portion of 

his time, giving a regular series of " lectures " on Divine 

i Healing, leading his audience gradually from one step to 

another, and afterwards forming everywhere he goes 



Il8 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

" Divine Healing Associations." Under Mr. Dowie's min- 
istrations some very remarkable cases of healing have 
certainly occurred. When George Montgomery was 
said to be dying with diabetes, Mr. Dowie prayed with 
him, some eight years ago, and he was raised up. Well- 
authenticated cases of cancer have been cured, some in 
a few hours, as in the instance, so widely reported, of 
the woman in Australia who had a cancer back of one 
eye, closing it and preventing any vision, which burst 
and discharged immediately after the prayer, and healed 
up in a few days, the sight being fully restored. An 
instance of the healing of a boy born blind occurred in 
Southern California, and many others quite as remark- 
able. In some cases physicians have testified to the 
complete restoration of conditions which ordinarily re- 
quire positive surgery. Some of these cases we know 
well. See the appendix for more on this subject. 

But after all this is allowed, it is certain that very many 
with whom Mr. Dowie prays are not healed. In his own 
report of a trial in Chicago in which he figured as de- 
fendant, he tells how some invalids were recommended 
to return home after spending some time at his boarding 
houses because " they evidently have not the faith." 
These were taught as thoroughly as the rest, but they 






THE PRACTICAL POSITION. 119 

" could not take hold." A minister of the gospel, a friend 
3 of the writer, who had been given up to die by his phy- 
sicians with diabetes, was so much helped that in a few 
[ months he wrote he felt able to " go through a troop and 
leap over a wall ; " while his wife, a most consecrated 
lady, was not helped at all, finding herself "unable to 
grasp the healing. " 
y No teacher of Faith Healing has ever forced the con- 
j elusion so strongly as Mr. Dowie, that if there is failure 
in any case it must be from some deficiency on the part 
J of the subject. He seemed to always ASSUME that HE 
\ prayed in " faith." Hence, since there is healing in the 
. Atonement for everybody, everywhere, at all times and 
seasons (except the time for death), provided they only 
believe fully and withhold nothing, the conclusion is 
irresistible that some sin must lurk somewhere, or some 
wilful failure in faith exist.* But in the face of the known 
character and spirit of very many who have thus sought 
healing, and of their clear testimony to the witness of 
acceptance with God in their hearts, this explanation is 
worse than foolish. As already remarked, it would be 
precisely as much in order for the subjects to claim that 

* More than a century ago this view was urged in England, and Dr. Samuel Johnson 
aptly condemned it as proving always that " the sick man is a rascal." 



120 "FAITH HEALING REVIEWED. 

Mr. Dowie was some way wrong when he attempted to 
pray with those who did not receive, specially as the 
prayer is offered by him and not by the subject. 

In the earlier portion of his ministry Mr. Dowie was 
simply unsparing in his denunciation of what he called 
" eye-crutches." No one was allowed any excuse. The 
theory was so clear and so consistent that of course the 
eyes must be given to God for healing as well as any- 
other organ. Over and over the writer has listened to 
this sharp scourging of the Christians who were wearing 
the obnoxious " eye-crutches." And many a believer in 
healing has suffered not a little under this teaching be- 
cause, as in the case of Mrs. Baxter, they simply could 
not get perfect sight. When the writer, in 1891, re- 
marked to Mr. Dowie that his eyes were evidently failing, 
since he naturally held print almost at arm's length to read 
it, Mr. Dowie rather indignantly rejected the suggestion 
and insisted that he could read anywhere, but had fallen 
into the habit unthinkingly. Knowing medical facts and 
theories, the writer was well aware that the unconscious 
testimony of the senses was the stronger, but he said 
nothing further. Pie was a trifle surprised, however, to 
hear in the short space of two or three years that Mr. 
Dowie was himself wearing " eye-crutches," although not 






THE PRACTICAL POSITION. 121 

much over fifty years of age and a man of tremendous 
natural strength. 

From these facts it is clear that Mr. Dowie's position 
after all is PRACTICALLY the same as the rest — a spe- 
cial answer to prayer as the Spirit wills. Multitudes 
seek healing, but many do not obtain, WHILE THOSE 
WHO ARE GIVEN A SPECIAL HEALING IN A NOTABLE 
AFFECTION ALMOST ALWAYS FIND AFTERWARD THAT 
OTHER COMPLAINTS FAIL TO BE CURED BY THE SAME 
MEANS OR BY ANY MEANS AT ALL. 

It is not necessary to follow these illustrations any 
farther. It is evident that the results in all cases are 
about the same, and most of the leading teachers of the 
more extreme view are gradually coming to see that God 
does as He pleases, and what He pleases, and acts when 
He pleases, and that it is best for us not to be too dog- 
matic, or to attempt to limit Him within our narrow 
lines, but to accept His will any way and all ways. 

The writer of this book, though the author of D. H., 

never did give much time to the theory or teaching of 

Faith Healing. Scores of times he has been known to 

ell his audiences, "Any man can go to heaven from a 

:ck body, but no one can with a sick soul. Salvation 

must be first." From a careful consultation of his note- 



122 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

book, in which every sermon preached is recorded, with 
time and place, it appears that in the course often or 
eleven years following his own healing he only preached 
some twelve times specifically on the subject. This is 
sufficient. He was brought to see the mistake of the 
general Atonement theory about seven years ago, chiefly 
through the irresistible logic of the conclusion that if 
healing was absolutely open to all at all times, then noth- 
ing but sin could account for the failure to receive it ; 
and that this conclusion was simply untenable for a 
moment in the face of a vast multitude of facts, forced 
him to again examine the Word for the proper argu- 
ment in the premises, with what result this book testifies. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Conclusion. 

IN using the word " practically " so frequently we mean 
that the PRACTICE of all the teachers mentioned 
really amounts to the special trust in God after all is said 
and done. No matter what may be taught, no matter 
what may be said in a theoretical way, the actual results 
in all experience follow the general principles stated in 
this little book. Hence we say that, no matter how 
strongly some of the teachers mentioned may still claim 
the Atonement theory of healing as open to everybody, 
everywhere, at any time, if only they fill all human con- 
ditions of consecration and trust, yet practically all the 
above teachers have found that this simply will not and 
does not work in multitudes of cases. For these failures 
the different persons account somewhat differently, but 
the practical results are the same. We hope, therefore, 
to call their attention to the real facts of the situation 
and aid them in getting on the solid ground of the 
Scriptures and of experience. 



124 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

Mr. Simpson wrote long ago in his magazine, The 
Word, Work and World, as follows: " Divine Healing 
fully recognizes the sovereignty of God and the state 
and spiritual attitude of the individual/' There is no 
doubt that at this time in the ages the " sovereignty of 
God" is the chief factor to be considered in cases of 
" answers to prayer" of whatever kind, outside the plain 
matter of forgiveness of sin, which is so absolutely 
stated to be always His will as to need no discussion. 

It will be seen therefore that this book attacks only 
one special point in the doctrine of "The Atonement 
for Sin and Sickness," that of the absolute right of any 
believer to claim healing at any time because of Jesus' 
sacrificial offering of Himself for us. It says not one 
word against the " prayer of faith," but strongly in- 
dorses it. It does not deprecate " praying with the 
sick," but advises all believers to follow the scriptural 
direction in such cases. It has no purpose to discredit 
well-authenticated cases of positive healing through 
faith ; it claims that we must give up all truth received 
through evidence if some of these cases be not accepted. 
It has nothing to say against an individual declining to 
take medicines in hopeless cases, where medical skill is 
confessedly at fault and can do nothing ; but it does 






CONCLUSION. 125 

claim that there is not sufficient warrant, either in the 
Bible or in early church history, for the statement that 
medicines are never to be used or that early Christians 
never used them. It advocates the position that God 
always expects us to do for ourselves what we know or 
think we can do, and that He does not excuse us on 
account of our ignorance or mistaken theories, but gen- 
erally allows His laws to march on to a finish. 

That most apostolic man and missionary, Dr. John 
G. Paton, tells us of an occasion when he found him- 
self confronted by a mob of angry savages, who levelled 
their guns at his head, evidently bent on his destruc- 
tion. He kneeled, helpless and alone. No speech 
came from him ; his eyes failed, but he prayed ; and as 
he prayed, he declares, " As never before the words 
came to me, ' Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name I 
will do it/ and I knew that I was safe." A constrain- 
ing power fell upon his foes, and the guns were lowered. 
He had prayed "the prayer of faith " inwrought by the 
Holy Spirit. 

But this same apostolic man plainly states, " I HAVE 
EVER MOST FIRMLY BELIEVED, AND DO BELIEVE, THAT 
ONLY WHEN WE USE EVERY LAWFUL AND POSSIBLE 
MEANS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF OUR LIFE, WHICH IS 



126 " faith healing " reviewed. 

God's second greatest gift to man (his Son being 
the first), can we expect god to protect us, or 
have we the right to plead hls precious prom- 
ISES." 

When Dr. Paton secured the most wonderful answer 
to prayer in the discovery of water — a discovery which 
God used to turn the hardest hearts to Him — it was 
found only after the most painful physical work. Dr. 
Paton did all he could before the water was found. 
We have known some very devout Christians to refuse 
all " means " and fight along " by faith/' as they said 
and thought, till most deplorable conditions and even 
death followed. No one can read the record of Charlie 
Miller's case, as he contended against the dread Afri- 
can fever for three weeks, refusing aid of any kind, tes- 
tifying freely and continually that his trust was only in 
God, asserting that " a steady faith wins," and declar- 
ing that he did not have the fever, until his last con- 
scious cry to Mr. Withey to call Dr. Summers as he 
was simply choking to death; and then follow him 
through the additional week of delirium to his last 
breath, without seeing that Charlie Miller was built of 
heroic stuff, and that no man could possibly " act faith " 
further than he did. His death was a solemn object 



CONCLUSION. 127 

lesson to all who held the extreme theory, and has often 
been pondered upon by the writer of the book which 
(he deeply mourns) perhaps helped Miller to take the 
position he did. 

Recently one of these honestly mistaken Christians, 
well known to the writer, went for over forty days with- 
out the slightest peristalsis,* determined to " hold on " 
till God healed her directly. But God sent a good 
Christian lady physician, who saved her life by the 
most common-sense means. 

We are frequently told that " God never made medi- 
cines," He " made the plant, but not the preparation. " 
It is hardly necessary to dwell upon such folly, but we 
may reply that while God never made certain prepara- 
tions, nor did He ever make a syringe or a surgical in- 
strument, yet it is equally true God never made a tooth- 
brush, or a cake of soap, nor a host of things suited to 
our present welfare which He has guided the race to 
discover how to make for themselves. To assert that 
remedies " are not His way for His children"! at any 
and all times, is to assert what cannot be proven. On 
the contrary, many times God chooses to grant signal 
deliverance through remedies after the individual has 

* Bowel action. | Mr. Simpson. 



128 "FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

tried to " act faith " even for years. The case of the 
lady just mentioned is conclusive on this point. God 
saved her through a physician and remedies, after she 
had " trusted God to heal " without any remedies down 
to the very door of death. 

When the writer had sought healing through faith, 
and used only the " scriptural means " of prayer and 
anointing with oil, and had " acted his faith " so des- 
perately as many times to calmly take the platform and 
preach when sound medical opinion regarded it as very 
doubtful whether he would live through the effort ; after 
he had thus gone on for YEARS, he was led to try some 
medicines, mainly, as he told the medical friend who 
prescribed for him, " to see if it might be God's will to 
heal or help in that way." The first attempt was a 
failure, but after the second, with a different school, he 
was speedily lifted out of a condition of mental depres- 
sion and nervous prostration which had prevailed for a 
long time, and at once began to preach and work, ac- 
complishing more in six months than he had been able 
to do in three years. And this " resorting to means " 
did not have the predicted effect of causing a " spiritual 
loss of that nearness to God which comes from such a 
constant dependence upon the Lord for the body." 






CONCLUSION. 129 

On the contrary, he was filled with joy, and praised 
God continually for His goodness and mercy, and was 
conscious of as much spiritual communion as he ever 
knew at any time. 

On this point the testimony of a most intelligent wit- 
ness may be profitable. After years of trusting without 
remedies, a Christian lady of San Francisco, Mrs. S. A. 
Kelley, who had been raised up from consumption in 
answer to Mr. Dowie's prayer, finally, at the writer's 
advice, concluded to try for other troubles a severe 
surgical operation. It was performed with good re- 
sults, and the lady writes of her spiritual experience, 
which some friends thought must suffer after such a 
"going back:" "I cannot express the joy I have in 
the liberty wherewith Christ hath set me free. It seems 
as if all my capacity for receiving the boundless w r ealth 
of God has been enlarged a thousandfold. I never 
loved God so much as now, and never felt such precious 
sense of the abiding, indwelling presence of the Holy 
Spirit." 

The distinguished evangelist, Major J. H. Cole of 
Michigan, was for a time an earnest believer in the 
extreme theory. Speaking of his experience to the 
writer a few years ago he said : " I used to be dreadfully 



1 30 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

in bondage. If I was a little sick I was whipping my- 
self and asking, What have I done wrong? What's the 
matter? And when I could not find a reason I was all 
mixed up. But now I'm as free as the air. If God 
wants me to be sick, I say Hallelujah ! And if He wants 
me to be well, I say the same. I just do the best I can, 
and trust in His great love, and am wonderfully restful 
about it. If I am ill, I commit it all to God, then I do 
the best I possibly can, and praise Him for the result." 
A few days ago* the Baltimore Conference of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South, sitting at Staunton, 
Va., refused to ordain a candidate for the ministry 
partly because he believed in and practised praying 
with the sick for healing, even though his friends ex- 
plained that he also believed in medicines. When such 
things are done by official bodies, and when the " elders 
of the church," though soberly requested by their mem- 
bers to solemnly pray with them according to the scrip- 
tural direction and promise in James, refuse to do so, 
with more or less contempt and pity for " such folly," 
it is no wonder that simple believers, who cling devot- 
edly to " all scripture, given by inspiration of God," 
may occasionally swing rather to an extreme. When 

* April 2, 1897. 



CONCLUSION. 131 

the " shepherds of Israel" are spoken against by the 
; Lord because " the diseased have ye not strengthened, 
J neither have ye healed that which was sick " (Ezek. 
xxxiv. 4), they need not be surprised if the people 
sometimes become a little mixed as to the exact truth. 
To despise or explain away the simple directions of 
1 the Word is quite in keeping with the critical scepti- 
' cism of our day. When it can be reported in the daily 
press that the ministers constituting a large and influ- 
ential city " preachers' meeting," " with two exceptions 
j put themselves on record as not believing in the full 
I inspiration of the Scriptures," it is no wonder that the 
; " symbolic and sacramental act " of " anointing w T ith oil 
in the name of the Lord " is sneered at and classed as a 
I 4t superstition."* 

Let us look for a moment upon a picture. A Chris- 
tian has fallen ill, and the indications seem to be seri- 
ous. A messenger is despatched to the house of his 
pastor to tell of the sickness and to ask his attendance 
as soon as possible. With the pastor come one or 
two of the official men of the church, all deeply inter- 

* If the " anointing with oil " in James means a rubbing with a medicine, then so 
does the statement concerning the early ministry of the disciples in Mark vi. 13 : " And 
they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them." 
Remember James was one of those who did this. 



132 " FAITH HEALING REVIEWED. 

ested in the welfare of their suffering brother. Arrived 
at the house, they are informed by the patient or his 
family that he desires to be solemnly committed to 
God, and to have them " pray over him" according to 
the special injunction of the' apostle. Thus "called," 
the " elders of the church " reverently kneel beside the 
bed ; the pastor prays with full confidence that he is in 
God's order, and asks that the power of the Lord may 
be granted to heal the sufferer, if that be possible in the 
divine will. With reverent solemnity he touches the 
symbolic oil to the forehead of the sick man, and join- 
ing with him, the elders " lay hands " upon him " in the 
name of the Lord." In the final words of prayer the 
whole case is committed to God, while strength, wisdom 
and patience in the divine will are asked for all within 
the home. Perfectly sure that if God has granted by 
His Spirit the "inwrought" prayer, " the prayer of 
faith," the sick man will recover ; and in any event 
confident that the simple commands of the Word have 
been carried out, and all done towards God that is in 
their power, they take their leave with a blessing on 
their lips and a renewed sense of their absolute depen- 
dence upon God in their hearts. 

What can there be in the above to offend the slight- 



CONCLUSION. 133 

est Christian belief or instinct? What is there more in 
the symbolic use of literal oil than in the symbolic use 
of literal water in baptism? What possible objection to 
the " laying on of hands " any more than the same 
practice in the ordination of deacons and ministers? 
And what mode of procedure could be better calcu- 
lated to properly educate the family in a simple faith 
in God and a dependence upon Him for all things? Of 
course if the physician w T ho has been summoned is 
himself a genuine Christian man, he knows only too 
well how easily the thread of life may at any moment 
slip beyond his control, and therefore he can least of 
all afford to neglect the honest effort to secure the aid 
of the Almighty, and will welcome the prayers of those 
who believe in God. 

When that man of God, the late Dr. A. J. Gordon of 
Boston, lay in his last illness, he was attended by a phy- 
sician, himself a most devout believer in the " prayer of 
faith." The service of consecration and prayer, with 
the " anointing in the name of the Lord," was held, and 
all was solemnly placed in God's hands. But this being 
done, it was still felt to be right to do all that scientific 
knowledge and experience taught to be probably or 
possibly useful, and nothing was left undone which skill 



134 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

and affection prompted. But God had spoken, and the 
" inwrought prayer " was not granted. From the ful- 
ness of the many harvests planted by that consecrated 
hand, Dr. Gordon passed to his reward, in the glorious 
assurance of a sanctified spirit. But who will dare to 
say that either he or his were any the worse for that 
simple service of prayer in obedience to the injunction 
of the Word ? 

Why cannot a Christian at once apprehend the 
proper office of the " means of faith"? What do we 
mean? Consider. The rams' horns at Jericho, the 
pitchers and lamps of Gideon, Samson's jawbone of an 
ass, David's sling, Elijah's ravens, the widow's cruse of 
oil, the mantle in Elisha's hands, the ditches of Jehosha- 
phat in the desert, the staff of Elisha laid on the dead 
son of the Shunamite, the water of Jordan as Naaman 
bathed in its current, the pool of Siloam, the anointing 
with oil by the disciples, — which of these was in itself 
efficacious? Which of these in any sense did the work? 
The jawbone was insignificant against the Philistines. 
The meal and oil were nothing for the support of three 
people. The stick thrown into the water could float 
itself, but by no possibility could it cause the iron to 
swim. The ditches could not bring water to Jehosha 



CONCLUSION. 135 

phat. The staff on the child's body in no scientific 
sense whatever kept or gave life. The waters of Jordan 
never washed away leprosy. Siloam could not open 
the eyes of the blind. The priest could do nothing for 
the leper. The exercise of the will did not vitalize the 
withered arm. The anointing with oil never healed 
anybody. Were these means efficacious we would not 
look farther, having natural confidence in the means em- 
ployed. But some particular actions, in the doing of 
which our spirit of obedience and of confidence in God is 
tested, constitute the " means of faith!' Whatever real 
trust or dependence we have or can summon is thrown 
upon the invisible God whom we believe to be behind it all. 
This is the scientific law, if you will, and it is as simple 
as it is scientific, the scientific " law of faith." Hence 
the reasonableness of these apparently useless means. 
We are to " do all we can/' as Dr. Paton so well 
says ; but let us not forget that simple obedience is one 
of the things we can do. " Calling the elders" is no 
harder than calling the doctor, and prayer costs at least 
no more than physic. It is very true that we ought 
not to neglect "works," but neither should we neglect 
" faith." At neither extreme can the pendulum rest. 
Surely we need FAITH and WORKS. 



APPENDIX, 



HEART DISEASE. 

MRS. CAROLINE TALBOT. 

POSSIBLY no other female preacher of the Quaker 
church during the last twenty years was more 
widely known in the United States and England than 
Caroline Talbot. For a long time she was afflicted with 
heart trouble so badly that she could not even walk 
across the street, and sometimes fainted while attempt- 
ing to cross a room. She spoke sitting in a chair, and 
was obliged to sleep with a chair and pillows behind her 
in the bed. It was impossible for her to arrange her hair 
without frequently dropping her arms, and in many ways 
she needed assistance constantly. Although deemed 
unable to travel, she reached Old Orchard Beach in 
Maine during a convention held there by Dr. Charles 
Cullis in the summer of 1881, going there, however, to 
attend another meeting in the line of woman's work. 

x 3 6 



APPENDIX. 137 

In the night she was taken seriously ill from another 
cause, and Dr. Cullis was called in as a physician. The 
writer was with him, but left him as he went to visit the 
sick woman, to attend to something connected with the 
convention. Later in the same day Mrs. Talbot walked 
a considerable distance in the hot sun, over yielding 
sand, to the tabernacle, where she rose and gave a 
thrilling testimony to healing. She told of her heart 
and her sufferings for years. In this country she had 
good medical advice, but the verdict was against hope. 
In England a prominent man said, " Your heart is very, 
very bad, and by no possibility can it ever be any bet- 
ter. If you continue to work you will die suddenly 
soon." She told how Dr. Cullis suggested to her that 
she might trust God for healing, since it was clear she 
had no hope from medicine. Although she had long 
believed God healed some, she never before had felt it 
was for her ; but just as Dr. Cullis made this sugges- 
tion, she declared, " All at once I felt that I could trust 
for myself." Accordingly the doctor prayed with and 
anointed her, and rose to leave the room. Turning at 
the door, he faced her and said impressively, " Praise 
the Lord, it is done." These words she repeated men- 
tally, and soon left her bed, arranged her hair without 



I38 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

difficulty, remained up all day, visited the meeting in 
the afternoon, and gave this testimony, closing it with 
the words " And now I am well." 

Four or five years after, the writer was driving Mrs. 
Talbot to the depot at Chester, Pa., after entertaining 
her at his house. He asked about her heart ; where- 
upon she fixed her piercing dark eyes upon him, lifted 
an impressive finger, and replied emphatically : 

" Kelso Carter, I tell thee that I have never known I 
had a heart from that day to this." 

Shortly after she was taken down with typhoid fever, 
and was attended by her old family physician; who 
said, " Mrs, Talbot, it is well you got rid of that heart 
trouble, or you never could have come through this 
fever." Several years later she died from another 
cause. 

The above are facts, as absolute as human evidence 
can ever hope to furnish. Mrs. Talbot's heart was 
thoroughly examined by able practitioners before and 
after her healing. Besides this, the typhoid fever made 
a searching examination of the most practical kind, but 
no fault remained in the heart. Her tremendous will 
had been exerted to its utmost for years, sufficing to 
carry her through many exertions, but failing utterly to 



APPENDIX. 139 

relieve her sufferings or to change her fundamental 
symptoms. When Dr. Cullis was called, she did not 
know his name. She received his suggestion, trusted 
God with the faith which then and there seemed to be 
" inwrought " by the Spirit, and was healed so positively 
and completely that no trace remained. This healing 
was permanent, and the disease never reappeared. She 
had other sicknesses, and could not always obtain relief 
from them by the same means of faith. She was known 
to thousands ; her sufferings had been observed for 
years ; the writer was well acquainted with her, and in- 
vestigated the above points as thoroughly and scientifi- 
cally as any one could. If Mrs. Talbot did not have 
organic heart disease, then it is impossible for medical 
men's opinions, joined with long history of cases and 
characteristic symptoms in abundance, to ever establish 
the fact. That she was cured as related, almost instan- 
taneously, completely and permanently, is beyond con- 
tradiction or doubt. Finally, we note that she after- 
wards prayed for healing for some other troubles, but 
could not obtain healing in that way, while at- other 
times she claimed answers to prayer for relief. 



140 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

SCIATICA. 

MISS JENNIE SMITH. 

It is unnecessary to go into the details of this fa- 
mous case. The writer has known Miss Smith for 
years, and has read her little book giving the account 
in full of her marvellous restoration to health. Miss 
Smith is well known as the " Railroad Evangelist," and 
formerly travelled thousand of miles in the baggage cars, 
lying in her little wheeled cot, and preaching to the 
men as she went. One leg was terribly affected with 
some trouble resembling a frightful sciatica, for which 
everything had been done that could be done, one or 
more nerves being finally severed to stop the pain and 
convulsions. While a number of friends were gathered 
round her praying, she was healed, and soon rose up 
and walked. She has continued well of that trouble 
for many years, and still carries on her evangelistic 
work. (At the present writing she is holding a meet- 
ing here in Baltimore.) Her residence has been at 
Mountain Lake Park, Md., for some time. 

That Miss Jennie Smith was pronounced incurable 
by able physicians, that she suffered years in helpless- 
ness, that she was raised up as described, and that the 



APPENDIX. 141 

old trouble has not returned in years, are unquestion- 
able facts to which multitudes of witnesses can testify. 
It may be noted that she has not always been able to 
secure immediate and perfect healing of other com- 
plaints by the same means, while at times she claims 
to have been healed in answer to the prayer of faith. 

GENERAL PROSTRATION. 

REV. JOHN COOKMAN. 

About twelve years ago John Cookman, after a severe 
illness, was given up by his physicians. The strongest 
medicines failed to cause sleep, and the doctor went 
home. After a long period of heart-searching, Cook- 
man lost consciousness and slept sweetly. Waking in 
the morning, he lay quietly enjoying a sense of the 
Lord's presence. Suddenly a voice seemed to say to 
him, " I am thy Saviour and thy healer, thy sanctifier 
and thy Lord." Cookman was healed, and immedi- 
ately engaged in religious work to a greater extent than 
ever before. He labored diligently, spoke of his heal- 
ing in many parts of the country, was indefatigable in 
his advocacy of the doctrine of Faith Healing, but was 
taken ill some years afterwards with a complication of 



142 "FAITH HEALING REVIEWED. 

diseases. Much prayer was made for him, but after a 
great deal of suffering he passed away. In this last 
sickness it is said that some of his old symptons reap- 
peared. He had been afflicted with rheumatism and 
consequent heart disease in former years, but that he 
was suddenly raised up, as related, and continued work- 
ing hard in health and strength for years, is beyond dis- 
pute. Being so well known, his case excited a great 
deal of comment, and his widely given testimony led 
to much discussion. 

BROKEN AND STIFF JOINT. 

MRS. F. P. CHURCH. 

For several years the writer had heard of a reported 
case of immediate healing of a broken wrist, and had 
often desired to sift the report to the bottom. In 1893 
he was providentially thrown in direct company with 
the subject, and resided in the same house for several 
weeks. The wished-for sifting was done, and the wrist 
carefully examined with the best ability at hand. The 
lady, Mrs. Church, lives at San Leandro, near Oakland, 
Cal., and is a strongly built woman of » middle age. 
Many years ago her wrist was badly broken and shat- 



APPENDIX. I43 

tered by an accident. It was set, but healed stiff and 
crooked, the hand bending outward. Some nerve fila- 
ment was caught in the little bones of the w r rist, caus- 
ing the most excruciating pain. The wrist was treated 
by several physicians during a number of years, but to 
no good purpose. The sufferer was obliged to wear a 
strong case about the arm to protect it from accidental 
blows. At night this was taken off and the arm placed 
carefully on a pillow. This condition of things lasted 
some nine years, the arm being quite helpless, and the 
suffering intense and almost continuous. Mrs. Church 
had not heard the subject of healing by faith specially 
discussed, but was led by her own agony to cry to God 
for help. No one else prayed with her. At last, just 
after a new case had been made for the wrist, she 
prayed earnestly for healing and felt impressed to throw 
the case in the fire. This she did, and retired, placing 
her arm on the pillow as usual. When she awoke in 
the morning, the pain had ceased, and the wrist was 
straight and strong. She went to the breakfast table, 
and at once was able to lift and pass a large plate of 
bread and other dishes without any difficulty. A few 
days afterwards she screwed the top on a fruit jar, 
using this hand, and screwed it so tightly that a strong 



144 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

laboring man had great difficulty in opening it. Her 
brother, Mr. Pease, a reliable Christian gentleman of 
some fifty years of age, said to the writer, " It is all 
true, and I tell you when I saw my sister handle that 
heavy bread plate, you could have knocked me down 
with a feather." 

The most searching scrutiny of the wrist failed to re- 
veal any abnormal feature except the slightest enlarge- 
ment of one small bone. There was about as much 
flexibility as is generally found in women of her age. 
She has never had any of the terrible pain, nor any 
suggestion of the old conditions in the years that have 
passed since her healing. No more thoroughly attested 
case has ever come under the observation of the writer, 
and the most careful examination and questioning fail 
to shake the facts as stated. 

In reply to the question, " Have you ever, since that 
healing, been ill, and for such illness sought healing by 
faith?" Mrs. Church answered, "Yes, but generally I 
could not get any such radical deliverance. Sometimes 
I believe I have been restored in answer to prayer, but 
never just as my wrist was healed." 

It is worthy of note that the brother, Mr. Pease, at 
the time of the above investigation, was suffering from 



APPENDIX. 145 

spinal disease, being encased in a plaster jacket, and 
walking with crutches. He was diligently seeking heal- 
ing, and was prayed with by Mrs. Carrie Judd Mont- 
gomery and her husband. He was made a special sub- 
ject of prayer by others also. For a time he seemed 
to be better, and went so far as to lay aside his crutches 
1 and take off the jacket. Still he did not appear strong, 
and the writer suggested being allowed to examine his 
back. This Mr. Pease declined to permit, and the mat- 
ter was not pressed. Evidently he made a heroic 
struggle to obtain faith, but the disease marched on to 
a fatal termination within two years. 

CONSUMPTION. 

MRS. GERTRUDE F. COLE. 

In the admirable and absorbingly interesting life of 
Dr. A. J. Gordon, lately issued from the press of Flem- 
1 ing H. Revell Company, there appears the narrative of 
the healing of this lady. From overwork at sewing 
and confinement she was seized with consumption of 
the most malignant type. Believed to be dying, she 
abandoned useless remedies, and called in Dr. Gordon, 
who anointed her and prayed in the name of the Lord 



146 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

for her recovery. After his departure she continued 
to sink, until all indications of life seemed to cease. 
While preparations were being made for her burial, 
she showed signs of returning animation. Her hem- 
orrhages ceased, a sense of health permeated her lungs, 
and she was restored. In the fall, when Dr. Gordon 
returned from the country, he did not recognize her, 
specially as he had not heard of her healing. She 
lived many years, married, engaged in Christian work, 
and finally died from another cause altogether. (See 
Life of A. J. Gordon, page 147.) 

CANCER. 

REV. JOSEPH C. YOUNG. 

From the same notable book we extract this case. 
In 1887 Mr. Young noticed a growth on his lip. His 
physician diagnosed " cancer," and prognosed early 
fatal termination. He prayed several days, thought of 
Dr. Gordon, went to see him, was prayed with by the 
doctor and two brethren. No more pain was felt, and 
in a few weeks " all signs had disappeared/' Mr. 
Young says, " The promise was believed, the prayer 
was offered, I was healed. " He then adds, " The Spirit 



APPENDIX. 147 

heals according to the will of God, not according to our 
will." (Page 144.) 

NEURALGIA. 

DR. A. J. GORDON. 

An outline of this case is given because of the char- 
acter of the man, more than on account of the details 
or the nature of the disease. Dr. Gordon suffered from 

( periodic attacks of abdominal neuralgia, growing more 
severe, and with a shortening periodicity. An impor- 

1 tant work in Chicago was about to be given up, when 
he was anointed and prayed with for healing. The 
pain returned with malignant force for a short time, and 
then utterly ceased, and in four years until his death 
there was not the slightest return of this malady. (Page 

335.) 

CANCER. 

MRS. IDA W. LOWRIE. 

This case is as well vouched for in all its particulars 
as it is possible for any case to be. The writer is ac- 
quainted with the husband of the lady, he having been 
foreman in a large factory belonging to a particular 
friend, Mr. John L. Atwater of Chicago. Mr. Lowrie's 



148 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

testimony to his wife's trouble, the decisions of the 
several doctors, and the nature and suddenness of 
her healing is most positive and circumstantial. Mrs. 
Lowrie's testimony is clear and ready at every point. 
She was repeatedly examined by able physicians. She 
was said by them all to have a pronounced case of can- 
cer, and to be open to no treatment save surgical extir- 
pation. Those familar with that terrible malady well 
know what such a course promised. 

For three years from 1891 Mrs. Lowrie's left breast 
gave her much pain and trouble. Dr. M. G. Pomtius 
of Canton, Ohio, first diagnosed cancer, and urged an 
immediate operation. Later, in August, 1892, the ex- 
amining physician at the great Cook County Hospital, 
Chicago, made a careful examination, and pronounced 
the case " alarming." He advised consultation with 
several other physicians. A week later Dr. Halsted of 
Chicago made an examination, diagnosed cancer, and 
ordered an immediate operation, saying, " In three 
months I would not want to operate on you, and in one 
year you will be a dead woman if you do not have 
immediate attention. Remember, you are taking your 
life in your own hands." Having a horror of surgery, 
she delayed, and in March, 1893, was again examined 



APPENDIX. 149 

by a physician, Dr. Skiles of the sanitarium at Garfield 
Park. He advised an operation at once, giving the 
same opinion as to the nature of the disease. In Oc- 
tober, 1893, her old physician from Ohio saw her in 
; Chicago and urged her to see Dr. Bellfield, which she 
. did. He said the breast must be removed at once. But 
. still she feared to have it done, and the Ohio doctor 
went home and told her friends that it was only a mat- 
ter of time with her. He also told Mr. Lowrie that Dr. 
Bellfield agreed with his opinion that it must soon be 
fatal in any event. 

In April, 1894, Mrs. Lowrie began to attend the 
meetings held by Rev. John A. Dowie in Chicago. 
Here she was helped spiritually, and confessed her 
I faith in Christ. She did not go into the room set apart 
1 for prayer with the sick, and was not anointed by any 
; one, nor specially prayed with. She prayed earnestly 
J herself, and one night was much led out in prayer. 
I Immediately her pain ceased and great peace filled her 
heart and mind. In the morning the breast was very 
much improved ; all suppuration had ceased ; the nipple, 
which had been inverted, was natural, and the whole 
appearance had changed. The marvellous improve- 
ment progressed rapidly, the breast soon seemed to be 



ISO " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

completely restored ; and some time after a baby was 
born and nursed perfectly at this very breast. The 
picture of the mother and child appeared in Mr. 
Dowie's paper, Leaves of Healing, for Sept. 14, 1894. 
In a personal letter from Mrs. Lowrie to Mr. Atwater, 
intended for the writer of this book, and bearing date 
May 23, 1897, s he says, " I am in excellent health, I 
weigh one hundred and forty pounds. I don't know 
what it is to be sick in three years, and have taken no 
medicine in that time. I have taken the Lord for my 
healer and keeper and my all. It's wonderful how the 
Lord answers prayer." 

A PHYSICIAN'S HEALING. 

FINIS YOAKUM, M. D. 

"I am a physician, am forty-four years old, been in 
the practice of my profession since 1872. I was run 
over by a drunken man driving furiously in a buggy 
down Broadway Street, Denver, Col., July 18, 1894, 8 
P. M., the shaft striking two inches to left of spine, 
breaking two ribs, producing internal hemorrhage into 
the pleural cavity about the heart and left lung, which 
caused the doctors to take out part of the seventh rib 



APPENDIX. I 5 I 

and cut a hole into the pleural cavity and let out a large 
quantity of blood. This hole remained open for over 
four months, discharging foul pus having the odor of 
rotten eggs. My fever never abated for eight months, 
nothing lessened it, and sleep was obtained only through 
opiates. No appetite, no sleep, no ease for the entire 
eight months. Over twenty-five doctors gave me up 
to die. I lost one hundred and twenty-five pounds of 
flesh ; I weighed two hundred and twenty-five when I 
was stricken down, and when I was healed I weighed 
only one hundred pounds. 

" The last days of January, 1895, I applied at 1072 
North Main Street, Los Angeles, Cal., to the Christian 
Alliance, of which Rev. W. C. Stevens is the leader, 
for anointing in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Oh 
how full of pain was this body ! And the pain became 
intense as those saints of God anointed me in the name 
of the Lord. They prayed for about half an hour; 
then, in my greatly increased pain, I asked them to 
help me downstairs. Brother Stevens bade me go 
in Jesus' name. I went with Dr. Flint, a Presbyterian 
minister, and another brother's help, down the stairway, 
resting once or twice, and as I stepped off the flag step, 
three inches high, to the pavement, every bit of pain 



1 52 "FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

and fever left me, and I have not had any since of the 
old kind. 

"Some one asked me at Long Beach if it was not a 
gradual healing. I replied that it only took the time 
between the flagstone and the pavement below ; some- 
where between the two places the Lord healed me. 
My good wife asked me when I reached home, * How 
do you feel, darling?' I said, ' I am healed/ my first 
testimony. She looked in amazement. I said, ' Wife, 
get me a beefsteak as soon as possible, I am so hungry,' 
the first time in many long months. She hastened, and 
I ate with a relish. Glory to Jesus ! 

"I weighed only one hundred pounds, and in just 
three months, or ninety days, on May 5, 1895, I 
weighed one hundred and ninety pounds, one pound 
per day increase. I am well and strong, and now 
weigh two hundred and twenty-five pounds, am prac- 
tising my profession, and telling of God's power to 
heal. Bless His dear name." 

In answer to a special note of inquiry sent to a trusted 
friend in Los Angeles, the writer received a communi- 
cation under date of April 30, 1897, stating that Dr. 
Yoakum is a physician of a large practice in that 
city, and is highly esteemed by the Christian people 



APPENDIX. 153 

associated with him in good works. His office is in 
the Bradbury Block, Los Angeles. 

R. KELSO CARTER'S CASE. 

For the sake of perfect honesty, and to help those 
who have found themselves under similar conditions, a 
sketch of the writer's experience is here inserted. 

The heart disease spoken of at length in " Miracles 
of Healing"* was of sudden origin, beginning imme- 
diately after a severe physical exertion. One moment 
the writer was a powerful athlete accomplished in all 
the feats of the gymnasium, and the next moment his 
heart w r as regularly omitting every third beat. There- 
after, this intermission occurred after or during any un- 
usual exertion, such as going upstairs, and could not 
be conquered. For seven years this continued. Then, 
following a spell of unparalleled weakness and exhaus- 
tion, he w r ent to Boston, was prayed with and anointed 
by Dr. Charles Cullis, returned at once to his work as 
professor of chemistry at the Pennsylvania Military Col- 
lege, and never thereafter lost a day from work on ac- 
count of his heart. Many times in the years since then 

*Willard Tract Repository, Boston. 



1 54 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

(1879) he has submitted to careful examinations by- 
competent physicians, but no heart trouble has ever 
been detected. Before his healing several good men 
(including Meigs of Philadelphia and Donaldson of 
Baltimore) declared his case to be one of dilatation and 
mitral failure. One physician thought it functional only, 
but never examined the heart while it was acting badly. 
In 1888 an attack of malignant malarial fever brought 
him to the verge of the grave, and for two weeks the 
daily temperature varied between 102 and 105 with no 
delirium and no sleep to ease the strain. During that 
sickness (the only attack of regular disease worth men- 
tioning ever experienced in his life) his physician, Dr. 
Whitehead of Bordentown, N. J., said to him, " Well, 
captain, if you ever had anything the matter with your 
heart, it is certainly all right now. IVe been watching 
it, and it has been as strong as a hammer and as steady 
as a clock/' 

Although the immediate heart trouble was thus re- 
lieved, a certain mysterious underlying weakness and 
inability to endure severe exertion was not cured and 
never has been cured to the present time. For this 
weakness (where located no one could tell) he was spe- 
cially prayed with by Dr. Cullis, and afterward by Mr. 



APPENDIX. I 5 5 

Simpson, and then by Mr. Dowie, besides several others, 
but no definite result could ever be traced. Besides 
this, special prayer was made for an astigmatized eye, 
and he regarded it as "potentially healed," but found 
that the practical answer was withheld in this case also, 
the eye never recovering normal sight although it did 
not worry him as it had done for a time. 

March I, 1887, the article appeared in the Century 
Magazine, which is copied in full in this book. That 
day he was taken with an attack of brain prostration 
from the long and severe strain of seven years' intense 
mental work, and suffered greatly for months, while still 
discharging most of his duties as professor of civil 
engineering and higher mathematics. During these 
months a special sea trip to Boston was taken, and Dr. 
Cullis prayed with him during a week spent in the home 
on Somerset Street, but it was not till the summer when 
prayer was made for him at Mountain Lake Park, Md., 
that much relief was obtained. Then the severest symp- 
toms were certainly relieved, and he was able to work 
with more ease. 

The following summer the fever referred to was con- 
tracted while superintending the erection of some large 
mills in New Jersey, and during that sickness he was 



156 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

under the care of a physician and took medicine, feel- 
ing perfectly free to do so. As soon as convalescent, 
however, he went to the Pennsylvania mountains and 
stopped all medicines. Recovery was slow ; the theory 
was strong, and he could not see why he should not be 
restored in answer to the many prayers offered in his 
behalf. In this faith and in response to invitations to 
evangelistic fields, he went to work, — two meetings a 
day, leading singing, playing the organ, etc., — and soon 
broke down again. But no medicine was thought of. 

Two or three years of great trials passed by, and the 
summer of 1890 found him at Ocean Grove, where, in 
response to the suggestions of Dr. Barr, he consented 
to try a little medicine, as he expressed it, " simply to 
discover if it could be possible that God might choose 
that means of help. " He frequently said he would take 
any quantity of medicine if only he was convinced God 
wished him to do so, and as frequently declared that he 
did not expect the Lord to inform him as to His will in 
any miraculous way. Finally this thought formed itself 
in his mind : 

" How much showing can I expect God to give me? 
I have stuck to the theory in the face of life and death, 
there is no doubt about that. I have proved over and 



APPENDIX. 157 

over my willingness to die in my tracks if that be God's 
will. But the same old natural results have invariably 
followed scores of times. May this not indicate that, 
for some, reason known to Him, God wills to treat my 
case at present on the ordinary natural plane? And if 
so, may it not be His will to benefit me through medi- 
cine? And how can I tell unless I try?" 

A long interval of stout adherence to the " Atone- 
ment theory " had passed ; Mr. Dowie had been met, 
and the prayer offered to which reference has been made. 
Six months after things were just the same, and the 
mental depression of nervous prostration was terrible. 
At this juncture a visit was made to a medical friend, 
who suggested that a trial of another school might do 
good. Purely as an experiment the medicine was taken 
and forgotten until a week or two later, when the writer 
waked up to the fact that the awful depression had gone, 
and a renewed sense of life and vigor that was simply 
delightful had taken its place. The correct remedy for 
the neurasthenia had been found, and the result was 
work and usefulness until the next season showed a rec- 
ord of meetings held and souls converted and saints 
consecrated to a deeper life, which surpassed any simi- 
lar time in his experience. He had a right to praise God 



158 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

for sending him to that physician, and he did do so with 
all his heart. What matters the method ? It is God 
who ordains and directs. He began to see clearly that 
the Spirit of the Lord works in many ways and must not 
be limited to any one way. 

A thorough rereading of the Scriptures followed, and 
the conclusions set forth in this little book soon crys- 
tallized under the light of the truth. With this came a 
delightful sense of freedom. The old bondage to a line 
of theory was broken. He could trust God as well with 
a physician or a little scientific medicine as without 
either. He simply looked over and through all agents 
and means to the one great Creator of all, and recog- 
nized that the ordinary is for the ordinary, and the 
miraculous or extraordinary is for the special and occa- 
sional, and that either is always under the Spirit " as 
He will." This took an immense strain from his mind. 
He no longer felt called upon to ransack the universe for 
a reason for any ache or pain that came along. It did 
not follow that he was a transgressor because he was a 
sufferer. (He never did accept that in every case.) He 
remembered Job and Timothy more frequently, and tried 
to praise God more in suffering instead of only praising 
Him for deliverance from pain. He paid even more 



APPENDIX. 159 

■ attention than formerly to hygiene and the laws of 
health, seeing God in them all, but ceased to expect a 
positive immunity except as God willed. 

Prayer was no less precious, and his belief in "the 
prayer of faith," instead of being weakened, became 
vastly stronger. Why ? Because a certainty took the 
place of an uncertainty. Before this, when the sick were 
anointed and prayer for recovery was offered, the the- 
ory compelled the positive expectation of healing. But, 
as the healing often did not come at all, the result was 
naturally a state of confusion and uncertainty, not to say 
doubt. Now, however, this was and is all changed. The 
sick ask for prayer. The method laid down in James is 
followed. The symbolic anointing is done in the name 
of the Lord. The prayer is offered in the same mighty 
name. The case is committed to God with a feeling of 
certainty, not as to the immediate result, but as to our 

1 part in the matter. All has been done toward God that 
should be done, and now the matter is in His hands. If 
it be His will, the sick will certainly recover. If the 

' prayer has been " inwrought," the cure is sure. And, 
as we only seek the will of God any how, if that will be 

, toward death or continued suffering, we rest in the Lord 

1 and His wonderful love. There is no confusion, no per- 

| plexity, no doubt. 



l6o " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

The writer has been greatly helped through some 
medicines and by means of some surgery ; but in his 
medical studies and practice he believes in as little as 
possible, and holds, with all advanced scientific men, that 
God's natural means of prevention are better than the 
natural means of cure, yet sees clearly that each has a 
proper place in the divine economy at the present time. 

He believes in genuine truth, no matter where it may 
be found, and fully recognizes the principle that al 
truth is never bound up in any one sphere. Why Goc 
has ordained or permitted that so very much of simple 
medical and surgical knowledge should remain unknown 
to a suffering race for so many centuries, only to burs 
forth in a perfect avalanche of discovery in the last fe 
decades, he cannot imagine ; but he wishes to be not 
slow to thank God for the flood of light which now is in 
the world, nor to fail to avail himself of it when needed. 
The great fact that the divine revelation in all things 
has chosen to follow a progressive plan stands clearly 
before him always, and he is content to learn from the 
lowest source and to sit at the feet of the humblest 
teacher until he has proved whether more truth can 
really be obtained. Above all he fears to ever " limit 
the Holy One of Israel " to any one plan, sect, line, 



w 



APPENDIX. l6l 

scheme or method, but seeks rather to secure all that 
God will give in any way that suits the Giver ; and he 
constantly prays that the Spirit will keep him from the 
fatal mistake of turning critic in ordinary as to the ways 
of Providence. He is finally convinced that the food is 
vastly more important than the shape of the spoon 
which carries it to the mouth. He is even willing to 
take the food without any visible spoon at all when 
occasion appears to require it. 

After many years of study, with the aid of scientific 
friends, and after many experiments, the root cause of 
the stubborn weakness referred to has been quite posi- 
tively located in the effects of two or three accidental 
injuries received in boyhood, causing a permanent irri- 
tation to the sympathetic nerve system. The pathology 
seems quite clear, but the remedy does not. Hence 
the matter is held before God in prayer, and the assur- 
ance is felt that if it be the divine will a cure will be 
reached in some way. If not, there is abundant grace 
in the bank of heaven, and the writer thanks God for 
the possession of a personal check-book. In any case he 
rejoices in the love of God, and gladly sends out this 
little book to help those who are struggling in the diffi- 
culties through which he has been graciously brought. 



CLOSING REMARKS. 

The above cases have been selected with the care in- 
duced by years of contact with those claiming healing 
through faith in God, supplemented by medical study 
(the writer being a physician) and a habit of bringing 
all evidence down to the most positive tests of nature, 
witnesses, and the test of endurance. Most of the per- 
sons mentioned have been friends of the writer, and the 
remainder are or were known through trusted acquaint- 
ances. The writer has for years spared no pains to 
come at the most absolute testimony concerning such 
cases, and in many of the above asked minute and 
searching questions of competent witnesses, and pressed 
personal examinations as far as circumstances allowed. 
All these questions and the names and residences of 
witnesses are not given, as it needlessly burdens the 
record and really amounts to nothing to those who do 
not know any of the people personally. It is fair to 
say that through his own experience and the close ob- 
servation of hundreds of others, extending over nearly 
twenty years, the writer has come to be one of the 

162 



CLOSING REMARKS. 1 63 

hardest to satisfy as to the clear-cut nature of a case of 
healing. He believes emphatically that God does at 
times heal the sick as positively as in the cases of Dr. 
Yoakum or Mrs. Church or Mrs. Lowrie, but he con- 
stantly passes over cases of reported healing because 
they present no really positive evidence that will stand 
the tests required in a court of law. The moral con- 

j viction of the truth of a case is a very different thing 
from convincing evidence, and nothing but the latter 

. should be offered to the public for the purpose of cre- 
ating and confirming faith. 

It must not be overlooked, however, that evidences 
of healing are frequently treated with a rigor and sever- 
ity not exercised towards legal evidence in court. 
While it is true that no prayer is more common among 
Christians than the prayer to God to extend mercy and 

' healing to some sick one, yet it is startlingly true that 

! no testimony is treated more coldly and suspiciously 

] than that which declares such prayers to have been an- 
swered. Certainly this is an awkward situation for 

; Christians to occupy. It does seem quite absurd to 
ask God so frequently for a thing and then to doubt 
every one's word when they say God has given the 

! thing asked for. 



: 



1 64 " FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

The nature of evidence, properly called for in such 
cases, can be no whit different from that required i 
the examination of the standard " Evidences of Chris 
tianity." And beyond all dispute there exists no 
stronger testimony to many of the miracles of the Bible 
than can be easily obtained for special cases of modern 
healing through faith in God. If it be objected that 
the Bible miracles often have inspired or divine testi- 
mony, it is sufficient to reply that the argument for the 
very " inspiration " itself rests upon undoubtedly con- 
clusive but rather involved premises ; and it is final to 
say that if we admit God has said certain miracles were 
performed in the time then past, it is equally certain 
that He said miracles of healing should be performed 
with other miracles, in the time then future. Jesus 
himself declared, " These signs shall follow them that 
believe," and also said when speaking of His own works 
" Greater works than these shall he do, because I go to 
my Father." We have therefore the most positive tes- 
timony from the Lord that miracles of healing shouk 
be wrought and that prayers should be answered as 
the Lord willed ; and these declarations, in the absence 
of any divine repeal, extend down to the present time. 

On the other hand, the miracles of Scripture depend 



CLOSING REMARKS. 1 65 

upon human testimony, and it is hardly necessary, in 
these days of " criticism," to say that the witnesses have 
been examined and re-examined, and their testimony 
rejected by very many thousands, while it is received 
joyfully by all true Christians. Can we, who receive 
so much upon the prayerful testimony of a few men 
dead for eighteen centuries, dare to reject the equally 
positive testimony of thousands of living witnesses after 
we have examined it and them fully, simply because we 
u cannot account for it," or because we " don't believe 
it "? If we turn from so much testimony to the work- 
ing truth of the Scripture promises, can we blame the 
infidel for rejecting our testimony as to Christ and His 
mission upon earth? If we do not receive the " signs" 
which Jesus said distinctly should " follow them that 
believe," can we wonder at the rejection of our testi- 
mony concerning Him who said that? 

After twenty years of prayerful examination of the 
subject from every possible standpoint, and after the 
most varied personal experience in the matter, the writer 
is of the opinion that the church of Christ runs a terri- 
ble risk if she attempts to discourage or to dishonor a 
simple faith in the present power of the Lord to heal 
the sick in answer to prayer ; and that she cannot 



1 66 "FAITH HEALING" REVIEWED. 

afford to dare improve upon the Scriptural methods and 
forms laid down for the special offering of that prayer. 
If the church will only cease to be so easily frightened 
by the over-strong statements of devoted but mistaken 
disciples, whose intense and honest zeal spurred by 
precious and holy personal experiences of God's won- 
drous mercy and almighty power for the time runs a 
little ahead of their knowledge, she will discover noth- 
ing alarming in a teaching which stands side by side 
with the saints in all ages on the immutable Word of 
our God, and sees in the simple provision for the sym- 
bolic anointing of the sick and the prayer for healin 
in the supreme will of the Lord a most blessed proo 
of the practical and comprehensive love of God, w T hic 
cares for the body as well as for the soul, and require 
and expects us to bring all our desires, necessities, con 
ditions, states and thanksgivings to Him who is as in- 
terested in the " little " as in the " great. " 

If we have erred (and we have, have you?) it has 
been through an intense desire to ''possess the land' 
to the uttermost, and to glorify God most by simply 
taking the place and every place He has assigned to us. 
If we have claimed much for the cross of Christ, it has 
not been too much (hardly is that possible), but it has 



CLOSING REMARKS. l6j 

merely anticipated the divine plan in the order of the 
ages. That the Atonement of Christ covers sickness 
and disease as well as sin, is but to say that the effects 
are necessarily embraced in the root cause. There 
was and could be no error there. But to claim that 
ALL the results of that Atonement are NOW open to 
the present living Christian is a grave mistake. We 
cannot err greatly as to the power of the Atonement 
by the blood of Jesus. 

' ' We challenge earth and heaven 
For a sin it cannot cleanse." 1 

But we may err, and have erred, in endeavoring to ap- 
propriate at the present time some of the final fruits of 
that sacrifice. 

In recoiling from the edge of presumption, towards 
which we providentially find ourselves mistakenly press- 
ing, let us not be persuaded to give up one jot or tittle 
of the blessed gospel of present salvation and present 
] answer to believing prayer. May we, with all who love 
the Lord in sincerity, hold to " the prayer of faith " as 
J one of the most precious fruits of the Spirit, and never 
1 fail to ground all possible results which reach us, ac- 
I cording to the sovereign will of God, upon the precious 
I blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who " his 



1 68 " FAITH HEALING " REVIEWED. 

own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree," and 
who " himself took our infirmities and bare our sick- 
nesses/' 

From Calvary's fountain. Lord, I know 

The living currents roll, 
To wash me whiter than the snow, 
And save my sinful soul. 

Like him who faint and helpless lay 

Beside Bethesda's shore, 
I heard the voice of Jesus say, 

" Arise, and sin no more." 

Fve plunged in David's opened fount, 

Where free salvation flows ; 
And sins that I could never count 

No judgment record shows. 

There everlasting waters spring 

For those whom grace has sought ; 
And there the hallelujahs ring 

From all the blood has bought. 

The ransomed, white-robed throng can ne'er 

Forget that crimson tide ; 
And seraphs love to linger where 

The Lord of glory died. 

And when the ages' onward march 

Shall sweep from sun to sun, 
His praise shall fill the starry arch 

As when it first begun. 

171 
















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